


Nothing Above, Nothing Below

by macabreiero



Category: Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys - My Chemical Romance (Album), My Chemical Romance
Genre: Angst, Nonbinary Party Poison (Danger Days), Other, danger days, enby!poison, funpoison, implications of rape/non con, killjoys, my chemical romance - Freeform, nonbinary!poison
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-06-20
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:27:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 7
Words: 22,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23829094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/macabreiero/pseuds/macabreiero
Summary: “You little fuck, don’t fight,” Korse growled, getting Poison’s hands held behind their back, holding both of his wrists tightly. He used his other hand to reach behind him and grab something, Poison seeing him grabbing a syringe up. They felt it stab into their shoulder and Korse threw them down once again. And that was the last thing Poison remembered before once again, their vision went black.After losing Party Poison to Korse, Ghoul is ridden with guilt. To the point where he would do anything to get them back.TRIGGER WARNING: implications of rape/non-con, language
Relationships: Fun Ghoul/Party Poison (Danger Days)
Comments: 32
Kudos: 41





	1. I

**Author's Note:**

> This is a slower chapter before a ton of shit starts to go down, but I hope you guys enjoy it:))

### Poison

Dark. Cold. Still.

Those were the only words Party Poison could use to describe wherever the fuck they were. They could’ve sworn their eyes were open but it was so pitch black everywhere they looked they really weren’t sure. Were they shaking? They couldn’t tell. What the fuck was going on, where the fuck were they? They stumbled back, trying to feel around them, to find something solid to grip onto but all around them was just complete _nothingness_. Finally they felt their back hit a wall and they finally felt cold, wet tears rolling down their cheeks. They slid down the wall and pulled their legs to their chest. The only thing they could do now was wait.

* * *

White. Empty. Wicked.

Poison’s eyes widened as they saw someone walk in, stand in front of them. A light had been turned on, turning what had been a completely black room into bright whiteness around them. In front of them was a tall, bald man. An Exterminator. It was Korse, and suddenly all the memories came back. They knew where they were now, they knew exactly what had happened now. How badly could they have fucked up this time? As Korse yanked their shirt up and held the collar up to pull Poison’s face to his level. He growled something Poison couldn’t understand, closing their eyes as they felt his spit in their face. And they suddenly saw the memories flashing in their mind.

_“Hey, stay focused, Cherry Bomb,” they heard Fun Ghoul call after them. Their boyfriend, their beautiful boyfriend whose eyes were darting from them to the Drac they were shooting. Poison was barely paying attention to what they were doing, running around playfully and shooting at everyone._

_“You worry too much, Ghoulie!!” they responded, laughing loudly. He and Ghoul had been out, it was supposed to be a short romantic outing for the two of them. But of course, that had been cut short by a bunch of Dracs running up on the two of them right in the middle of a Trans AM makout session, that had began to get slightly heated. But now they just shot aimlessly, barely paying attention to what they were doing. Of course,_ now _they regretted it, but at the time it was just some fun._

_They ran forward in Ghoul’s direction, pressing a heavy kiss to his lips. “You’re beautiful,” he murmured in response. Before turning back and shooting at a few more Dracs. “Fuck!! Pois, behind you!!” Ghoul shouted, shooting at something behind them. Their golden eyes widened but before they could turn to see what he had noticed, Poison felt somebody grab them by the bright red hair._

_“NO!!! Fuck! No!” Ghoul shouted, trying to shoot at the man who had grabbed Poison. Looking behind them finally, they noticed it was Korse. That man had made it his duty to make Poison’s life hell, and theirs specifically. Poison was screaming, fighting trying to get away but nothing they did could work._

_“Let me go, you fucker!!” they shouted. Ghoul hit his gun and Poison’s eyes widened. His gun had run out of flares. Poison screamed again as he noticed as Ghoul ran forward but finally, Korse smacked them in the head with their gun and their vision went black._

“What are you gonna do to me?” Poison spat, trying hard to will themself to stop shaking. They tried to reach to pull Korse’s hand off their face but they couldn’t move. Had they been drugged? Korse smiled wickedly and ran a hand roughly over Poison’s face.

“I’ve always loved how feisty you were,” chuckled Korse. “You’ve never been shy about fighting back. No wonder the black haired one liked you so much.”

 _Ghoul._ “What did you do to him? What did you fucking do to him?” they growled, feeling Korse grip their neck tightly in an attempt to shut them up.

“Calm down, I didn’t do anything to him,” said Korse, rolling his eyes and squeezing Poison’s neck harder so they could barely take in a breath. “I got your pretty little ass in my car and he followed us for a bit then eventually gave up trying. Pretty loyal boytoy you got there.”

Poison let out a strangled scream and Korse loosened his grip enough so Poison could speak again. “He’d never leave me, you filthy bastard. He’s gonna come after me. I know he is.”

Korse just chuckled. “Well, we don’t know that, do we?” he murmured. “He’s got your jacket and your mask, for all we know he thinks I’ve killed you.”

That felt like a punch right to the gut for Poison. In fact, a punch to the gut probably would've felt better. He hated that Korse was probably right. Ghoul probably thought they were dead. Or on their way to be Drac’d. And what would he tell Kobra and Jet? Kobra was their baby brother, he was gonna flip his shit. Was Jet gonna be able to keep Kobra from letting himself fall apart? Was _Ghoul_ gonna fall apart? They felt tears threatening to spill from their eyes but they blinked them away and swallowed the lump in their throat, that burned against Korse’s hand, still gripping at their neck.

“You know I’m probably right,” he chuckled wickedly. “That why you’re not responding, love?”

“Don’t _fucking_ call me that,” croaked Poison, feeling as if they were on the verge of passing out. Ghoul had called them ‘love.’ Hearing that word come from Korse’s mouth scared him, it absolutely disgusted them. They couldn’t let Korse ruin that for him, once Ghoul got them back, they couldn’t let anything be different. They couldn’t let Korse hurt that for him. 

“Why’s that?” he said, with a hint of laughter on the tip of his tongue. “Does it make you think of your _boyfriend?_ Does your boyfriend call you that? Do you miss him? You want to go back to him.”

Now the tears that had been threatening to spill had won Poison’s fight, a couple falling down their cheeks. “Shut up. Shut up right now, right fucking now.”

Korse shook his head and took the collar of Poison’s shirt again. He dragged them across the room and they felt themself start shaking again. “What are you gonna do about it? You gonna hurt me?” he taunted, a big evil grin on his face, “ _love”_ he added on to the end of the sentence, his voice tantalizing and disgusting. Korse pulled Poison back up again, their faces only inches away as he spoke to them. “You think you’re getting out of here, do you? Do you really think that pretty little boyfriend is coming after you? Your brother or that friend of yours, maybe? Do you really, really think so? ‘Cause you’re not, you know. You’re with me. Forever.”

Suddenly Korse’s intentions became clear. Poison’s eyes were suddenly wide and their breathing sped up. “What do you want from me?” That was stupid, Poison knew exactly what Korse wanted from him. From the hunger and thirst in his eyes, they knew it. He wanted sex. Poison was shaking hard now as they saw Korse’s big, evil smile. They finally managed to bring themself to move, to try and fight him but Korse held their arms down, at their sides. 

“You little fuck, don’t fight,” Korse growled, getting Poison’s hands held behind his back, holding both of their wrists tightly. He used his other hand to reach behind him and grab something, Poison seeing him grabbing a syringe up. They felt it stab into their shoulder and Korse threw them down once again. And that was the last thing Poison remembered before once again, their vision went black.

### Ghoul

“Fuck _you!”_ came the angry, scalding voice of Kobra Kid. He ran forward, jumping at Ghoul and grabbing him. Jet Star had to run forward to hold him back, try and keep Kobra from absolutely killing Ghoul. “You useless coward, fuck you!! I can’t believe you just let Korse take them, do you know what that man is capable of?”

Jet was standing in between the two of them, his arms held out in between them to keep Kobra away. But Ghoul seemed equally as pissed, that Kobra even thought he would just let Poison get taken. “You think I wanted this?” shouted Ghoul, slamming himself into Jet’s open palm. “I loved them too!! I didn’t want them to get hurt!! You think I don’t feel like complete shit? You think I don’t feel like a fucking failure for letting this happen to them?”

“Guys, calm down,” Jet called, looking to either of his sides at both of his friends. “Poison wouldn’t want this to happen.”

“Don’t you try to fucking talk about what Poison would’ve wanted,” said Kobra, his voice almost a growl. “You don’t know what Poison would’ve wanted, neither of you do. They were _my_ sibling, _I’ve_ been with them their entire life. You guys don’t know anything about them.”

“They’re my _fucking partner_ ,” shouted Ghoul, managing to push Jet away from them and get Kobra up against the wall. “You just try to fucking tell me I don’t know them. I know so much more about them than you think. They’re my fucking everything, Kobra, they’re my world. Do you seriously think I’m not trying so hard to completely fall apart.”  
“GUYS.” Suddenly Kobra and Ghoul stopped, Ghoul dropped his hand and stumbled back, coming back to Earth for a moment when he heard Jet’s shout. Kobra violently pushed Ghoul away and the two stood, far apart while looking at the two of them, practically fuming. It was rather unsettling, seeing Jet in this state, he was typically such a sweet man but now he had reached his limit. He didn’t want to see his friends at each other’s throats ever, especially now after they had lost Poison.

“You two need to stop,” he went on, going to stand in between Kobra and Ghoul again. “This is a hard time for all of us, we just lost our best friend. Kobra, you need to cut Ghoul some slack. You know how much he loved them, if they were able to, you know they would have done literally anything to get Poison back and safe. And we do know them, both of us do. Maybe you’re their sibling but we know them. You need to calm the fuck down. And Ghoul, you can’t go jumping at Kobra just ‘cause you’re pissed at each other!! Poison loved you both!! They wouldn’t want this!!”

Kobra and Ghoul looked at each other awkwardly. Jet was right, Ghoul knew he was. He rubbed his eyes and leaned heavily against a wall. “Fuck,” he murmured, running fingers through his long, black hair. “You’re right.”

Kobra just nodded, crossing his arms with his expression still cold and emotionless. “I want Poison back.”

“We all do, Kobra,” said Jet, his voice softer now. “I’m sorry, I know this is hard for you. Ju-just be careful, okay? Please? Do it for Poison.”

Kobra nodded. “Yeah,” was all he managed to get out before turning to leave the room.

* * *

Ghoul was sitting in dead silence, alone in the room he had shared with Poison. He was sitting on the makeshift mattress, clutching Posion’s pillow close to his chest and breathing in the last of their scent. How could he have let this happen? How could he let Korse take Poison away? His partner, the love of his life. They were gone. Ghoul felt hot tears running down his cheeks, loud sobs emitting from his throat. They were supposed to have been on a date. They were supposed to be together, to be happy. Spending just a couple hours alone for once in a world where they could never be alone. The first time they had ever gotten time to just be a couple in weeks and Poison gets captured by an Exterminator. Surely they’d get killed, get Drac’d. But Ghoul didn’t wanna think about it. 

They just wanted to think about the possibility that maybe Poison would be back. Maybe they’d manage to escape, they were a strong Killjoy. They could surely take care of themself, right? Ghoul wiped their eyes on their sleeve and wrapped himself in their jacket, closing his eyes and letting himself be surrounded in their sent.

Before long Ghoul was woken up to something being thrown at him and Jet’s voice calling, “Hey dude, get up. We’re heading D’s.”

“What?” he had said drowsily, stretching and looking up at Jet, Kobra standing next to him with crossed arms.

“We’re going to D’s,” Jet repeated. “We think he’ll be able to help us about Poison. Kobra called him and he told us to head on up, he’ll talk to us.”

Ghoul yawned and stood up, still pulling Poison’s jacket over his arms. “You really think we’ll be able to get them back?”

Jet looked at Kobra, who decided it was his turn to speak. “We’re gonna try. We need them, we can’t just let BLI do what they want with them. I know my sibling and I know that they’ll fight until we can get them out.”

Ghoul nodded. “Then let’s do it. We need to save them, they need us. We can’t abandon them.” If anything, Poison was probably terrified wherever they were. They were probably hoping that any second now his crew would come in, back for them to save them. Poison meant so much to all of them, they couldn’t just let them die.

Jet offered a small grin, turning to walk to the Trans AM and start on the way to D’s. “Let’s go save our friend.”


	2. II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i will probably not at all have regular posting schedule.... but this chapter is a fun one, enjoy!!

###  **Poison**

Poison woke up to find themself barely clothed and sore all over. They rubbed their eyes and tried to remember what had happened the night before. They were laying on a bed.... They definitely weren’t at home at the diner. They sat up, feeling a tight, throbbing pain in the lower half of their body. They leaned against the bed and sighed heavily, pulling a blanket over their naked chest and closed their eyes. Before long they heard footsteps. Korse. He was back. What had he even  _ done  _ to Poison last night?]

“You can think again, I assume?” he said with a gross smirk on his face. “We’ll wanna fix that, Party Poison.”

“Wh-What?” they whispered, seeing what Korse had brought in with him. It was another syringe. And suddenly Poison remembered. The night before had been terrible, Korse had held them down, sedated them until they couldn't move. No matter how hard they tried they couldn’t fight. They just couldn’t. So Korse had made sure they couldn’t fight back and that’s when he had raped them. They couldn’t even scream or cry or anything. They just laid there while it happened. 

“We don’t want you fighting back, now do we?” he practically purred, moving until his face was just inches from Poison’s. He took their chin in his hand, grinning as he went on. “It’s easier if you don’t. You’ll actually have some use here, love, I’ve been having fun with you.”

“I told you not to fucking call me that,” Poison growled, their voice partially a whisper. “Don’t use his words, don’t take that away from me.”

“It’s not like you’ll ever go back to him.” Korse’s voice was loud in their ears, though they knew that he was barely even raising his voice. Their head was pounding as they leaned against the bedframe. How strong were these drugs if they already felt withdrawal symptoms? How bad was it gonna be by the time Ghoul came to save them? Well, if they came to save them. How could they know Ghoul didn’t just think they were dead?

Poison shook their head roughly, shaking at the sight of the syringe.  _ Fuck _ , they really couldn’t stand needles. The sight of them, let alone the stabbing feeling of them into their tender flesh was enough to make their skin crawl. Hell, just the thought brought them close to tears. “If you touch me one more time, I’m gonna--”

“You’re gonna what, Party Poison?” Korse sneered. “You’re weak. You’re fucking weak. You’ve got nobody here to protect you. Nobody to stop me from doing this…” Korse set down the tray and grabbed the syringe. He smiled as Poison started shaking, as their fingers reached out to try and push him away. Korse used this to his advantage, gripping their wrist tightly and stabbing the syringe into their forearm.

“Fuck!” Poison shrieked, squeezing their eyes shut tight. They couldn’t stand needles, even when Ghoul went to get tattoos and asked Poison to come along and hold his hand, they did of course but could barely handle it. They’d be shaking the whole time until Ghoul would make Kobra or Jet come take them to the side, or talk them down.

Korse chuckled at the sight of Poison, obviously in pain and scared out of their wit. “So you’re not as fearless as that smug fucking demeanor of yours suggests. The way you were prancing around when I came down to get you, I thought you’d be able to handle some drugs in your system.”

Poison shook their head fast, suddenly unable to move any of their limbs. They felt Korse crawling overtop of them and they let out a strangled cry. They felt Korse’s lips meet theirs and the shaking got worse. It got worse and worse until they no longer could process what was happening. Suddenly they went completely still. They couldn’t even shake anymore. They just let it happen as Korse once again, took something meant for Ghoul and only Ghoul.

* * *

So now Poison had been raped twice by this horrible man with a completely, totally, fucked up mind. They were alone again, staring at the tray of food in front of them. They were hungry, starving actually. They hadn’t eaten anything since a can of Power Pup, who knows how long ago. They still remembered the scene in their mind, as if it was an hour ago. How excited Kobra had been when he’d gotten enough food (granted, dog food wasn’t exactly fine dining, but pretty good for the desert) to last them weeks if they stuck to two (maybe three on special occasions) cans a day. He was so excited. Poison grinned softly at the memory of their baby brother, the huge smile on his face. They missed him. They missed him so damn much. They missed Kobra and his shy demeanor, his teasing whenever they’d sneak a kiss from Ghoul. They missed Jet and the way he always seemed to give the best advice. The way he’d hold Poison while they cried, when they couldn’t let their boyfriend see them. Jet’s fierce protectiveness of all three of them. He’d do anything to keep them out of harm, he was practically their dad. He always made Poison feel so safe. 

And then there was Ghoul. Beautiful, wonderful, perfect, Fun Ghoul. The love of Poison’s life. They loved him so much. They loved him like he was the sun. Like he was all the beautiful, shining stars in the sky. In fact, he was more to them than that. He was quite literally their everything. They wanted to be laying on their shitty makeshift mattress together. They wanted to kiss Ghoul until the taste of Korse’s lips were long gone. They wanted to lay in his arms, feel his nimble, calloused fingers across their skin. How no matter how rough his fingers were, they always felt so heavenly soft as they travelled across them. Ghoul always took things slow with Poison, he knew that Poison hated fast. No matter how fucking horny that little bastard got, he would always go slow. 

Fuck, Poison was crying now. They felt cold tears streaming down their face once again. But quickly, they wiped them away. They sniffed loudly and turned their focus back to the tray of food in front of them. They couldn’t cry, they couldn’t fucking cry. Not here, not now. Not when any second now, Korse could come back in, see them showing weakness and rape them again, when they had absolutely no will left. So the food, they focused on the food.

And internally, they debated with themself. Should they or should they not eat it? They were starving, that was true but this was BLI food. They likely had drugged it. It probably had some sort of Better Living happy pill in it. Something that’d turn Poison into nothing but a zombie. They needed to stay safe for when his crew came. They  _ were  _ coming. Weren’t they?

###  **Jet**

“I don’t understand why we’re even fucking trying,” Kobra had groaned once they’d been driving a couple hours and they were pretty sure Ghoul was sound asleep. “I mean I love ‘em to death, you know I do, they’re my sibling but they’re probably dead right now. And if they aren’t, they’re a Drac. the chance of us actually getting them back alive are so slim.”

Jet gripped the wheel tightly as they drove. It felt weird to be in Poison’s place, they always drove with Ghoul right next to them, stealing kisses and causing Poison to swerve all around, making them fear for their lives. He almost missed it. But now they just glanced at Kobra shocked they didn’t want to do everything possible to find their big sibling.

“There’s still a chance, right?” murmured Jet, careful not to wake Ghoul. He looked at his friend through the mirrors and smiled to himself. He looked so peaceful, not sad, not crying, not frantic. It was nice. “Don’t give up hope, Kobes. They’re out there. They’re so fucking strong. They won’t let someone take them alive. You know it.”

Kobra grunted. “I guess, I just… Fuck, part of me just wants to believe they’re dead, you know? It’s better than anything else that might be happening to them. I don’t know what BLI does to their captured killjoys but I know it’s nothing good. I’m just scared of what's happening to them if they’re alive.”

“Don’t you wanna help them?” Jet looked at Kobra for a second. “I mean if maybe they aren’t Drac’d and there’s a possibility we can help them. Don’t you wanna try? And if we do find out there’s no helping them… don’t you just wanna make sure? Just make sure you’re not letting them down?”

Kobra sighed, turning and looking out the window, leaning his head against it. “You’re right, I’m just a fucking pessimist. I miss them, that much’s true, I just… I have no hope Poison’s still alive.”

“Poi--Poison?” Jet immediately slammed the breaks, slightly too hard at the sound of Ghoul’s voice, tossing everyone forward. He didn’t know why he had but hearing Ghoul’s drowsy voice utter Poison’s name seemed to startle him. ‘What the fuck?” Ghoul went on, now fully awake. “Jet, what the fuck are you doing?”

“‘M sorry,” he mumbled, leaning back. “Let’s just… let’s stop here for tonight.”

Ghoul shook his head frantically, sitting up straight and leaning forward. “We can’t Jet, we fucking can’t. What if we stop for tonight and we miss the window they keep Poison alive or sane or whatever the fuck they plan on doing to them?”

Jet yawned and rubbed his eyes. “You can drive if you want, I guess. You’ve been sleeping a bit so feel free to take over. I’m not trynna stop us from finding Poison I just don’t wanna kill us ‘cause I’m falling asleep at the wheel.”

Ghoul climbed forward, pushing Jet and he got out through the driver’s seat door. “Fine, I’ll drive. I just don’t want to lose the love of my life over this.”

“Fuck off, Ghoul,” Kobra said, his voice slightly sharp. “You’re not the only person that misses them, you know. So fuck off.”  
“Well why am I the only person who seems to fucking care!!”

Jet sighed as he climbed into the back and Kobra argued with Ghoul. This was a bad idea, he shouldn’t have let them next to each other. They’d be at each other’s throats over this all night. It was strange because when Poison was here, Ghoul and Kobra were practically best friends. It hurt him to see them like this, so upset. But he just tuned out their argument and closed his eyes. Hopefully this would all get better in the morning.

* * *

It, in fact, did not get better in the morning. How were Ghoul and Kobra still arguing? He groaned as he woke up, just letting out a loud, “Will you two just shut up?”

They both looked back and Kobra shrugged. “I went to sleep and he’s giving me shit as if he hasn’t slept the whole ass time.”

Holy fuck, they were like  _ toddlers _ . It was so frustrating. Jet just yawned again and stretched his arms. “You two are the worst, I swear. Just… play a CD and be quiet.” They needed to get Poison back and they needed to soon. Jet didn’t think he could stand much more of these two and their arguments, their comparing grief. It really was a drag.

“Poison loved this song,” Ghoul said after a minute, having taken Jet’s advice and popped in a CD. “They’d sing it to me at night as we were falling asleep. Destroya, they’ve got such a pretty voice. I miss that.”

Kobra smiled softly. “Yeah, they had a lot of talent, didn’t they?”

Ghoul leaned against the seat with a smile adamant in his voice as he went on. “It reminds me of this drawing they made for me like a year ago. I brought it with me, it’s in my fucking jacket. They wrote the lyrics on it. They’re so amazing.”

Finally, something those two could agree on, thought Jet gratefully. He was gonna go mad if they spend the whole time arguing. He piped in, “They better be alive. Or else BLI just got rid of the brightest light in the whole ass desert.”

Kobra nodded. “We need them here. They make everything so much better.”

Jet could tell by the tone of Kobra’s voice that he definitely felt different now than he had last night, talking about how he didn’t understand why they were doing what they were. He very obviously got it now. And he very obviously wanted them back just as bad as Ghoul did. They all did. It was true that Poison was a light the desert just could not go without. And even with the sun shining high in the sky, the whole world just seemed so much fucking darker. And Destroya, was it miserable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aight so i have a good feeling that chapters will definitely be getting longer but idrkkk so we'll see. but yes please leave me feedback, I love that shit <3


	3. III

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna try and do like three pov's per chapter starting now to try and make chapters longer. as usual, please please please leave me feedback, I love seeing comments:)) I'll respond to them all!! enjoy:))

###  **Kobra**

Fucking Fun Ghoul. Kobra loved him to death, he really did. He was an amazing guy, absolutely incredible. So funny and kind and caring. But he was frustrating as hell sometimes. As sweet as it was that he would do close to fucking anything to get his partner back, Kobra wished the situation had him a little less manic. Kobra was still leaning against the window, so sick of arguing with Ghoul. This was his best fucking friend, he really hated how at each other’s throats they had been since they lost Poison. Granted, Kobra did start it, but now he regretted it. He missed the innocent laughs and fun they had together.

“What do you think they did to them?” Ghoul had murmured, breaking the disgusting silence that had filled the Trans Am. “Like, do you think they’re being tortured or what?”

“Probably,” Jet had murmured in response. “Poison was like… BLI’s most wanted. Now they finally got them.”

“Fuck, don’t remind me.” Ghoul banged his head against the steering wheel before looking back up and sighing. “I’m the one who practically handed them over.”

Kobra wanted to try comforting him but he just couldn’t open his mouth right now. He was too busy worrying about his older sibling. It scared Kobra to think that if Poison was for some reason being kept alive, what could be happening to them. He had been simply masking all his sadness, all his worry with anger. So he’s been shouting and arguing, just to try and distract himself from his doubt he’d ever see his sibling again.

Once they had arrived at Dr. Death Defying’s Radio Shack, Ghoul had stopped the car and took a deep breath. “You think D can actually help with this?”

“If he thinks he can, we need to trust him,” Jet said. “D’s a man of mystery, we don’t know how he does this shit but we know he does somehow. Let’s go find him.”

Kobra nodded and got up from the car with Ghoul and Jet. Ghoul knocked on the door anxiously, his other hand drumming frantically on his thigh. He glanced back at his friends behind him and then back to the door as it was opened by Show Pony. Their face immediately lit up and they threw their arms around Ghoul’s shoulders.

“Oh, I missed you guys!!” they squealed, and his eyes widened as he hugged them back.

“Yeah Pony, hi, we missed you too,” he murmured. “But we really really need to talk to D.”

They pulled away with furrowed brows. “Shit, yeah, he told me why you guys were coming. I’m so fucking sorry about Poison… That’s gotta be awful.”

Kobra nodded, crossing his arms as Pony took Ghoul’s hand to lead him to D. “We’ll help you though, we wanna get them back as much as you do. You guys are like children to D, he loves you guys like crazy.”

The crew followed Pony as they led them all into the shack and in D’s direction. The guys were shown into a room where D was sitting in his wheelchair, looking over when he saw the guys and smiling. “How’re you guys holding up?” he said, as Pony stopped at the door. The guys went in to greet D and Kobra leaned against the wall, his eyes fixed in what could’ve been seen as a sick glare. He didn’t exactly mean to look like that but he was frustrated as hell and still trying to hide his sadness.

Ghoul shrugged and glanced back at Jet and Pony and then down to D. “I miss them. I-It’s kinda my fault they’re even gone in the first place I just--I feel like complete shit, I loved them so much.” He leaned into Jet and took a breath and Kobra couldn’t help but feel bad. Ghoul really did deserve that happiness he had found with Poison, it was sad to see how much he was falling apart without them.

“Ah, of course,” said D, softly, rolling over to get closer to the guys. “You guys are so much closer than other crews I’ve ran into, I can’t imagine how you’re all feeling. Especially you, Kobra.”

Kobra just shrugged. He didn’t wanna say anything, he didn’t trust himself to say anything without starting another fight with Ghoul. So he just broke eye contact with D and slid his sunglasses back over his eyes.

“You can help us get them back?” Ghoul continued, his eyes bright with hope and a small grin on his lips. 

“If they’re still alive then I sure hope so,” D started. He went over to his desk, going through some papers before looking back up at them. “You guys are gonna need to go into the city and then into BLI.”

They all nodded slowly and Kobra felt his chest sinking. How was it possible that all four of them would be getting out of BLI if Poison happened to still be alive? What were the chances of even all three of them getting out if they weren’t? He took in a deep breath and finally opened his mouth,

“Do you think we’ll even all get out?” he said quietly, not even making eye contact with D as he spoke. “It’s hard enough to get into BLI, we’ve just barely made it out of there in the past.”

“Well, I sure hope so,” D went on. “You’ll all need to clean up a bit if you wanna fit in in the city though, nobody’s letting these zonerunners in.”

Kobra nodded. “Right,” he said, getting up from the wall he had leaned against. “So what’re we gonna do? Clean up and head to the city?”

“What else could we possibly do?” said Jet. “I don’t like the sound of it either. But how else are we gonna get them back?”

D nodded, motioning for Pony to come towards him. “Pony can get you guys all ready for the city. No guarantees you’ll actually come back with Poison, for all we know they killed them the moment they were out of your sight. Now, I’m not saying that to upset y’all, I just don’t want you guys having any false hope if you don’t find them alive. But if you do, they won’t be okay. At the very least, they’ll be horribly drugged, probably unable to think. You’ll wanna take them right back here and we’ll try and wean them off. I’ve lost ‘joys like that before, so the chance of you guys finding them alive and then getting them back to normal… don’t be too upset if one way or another, they end up dead.”

Kobra felt a pang in his chest at those words. D was right, they wouldn’t be okay. There was no way BLI was gonna let a perfectly sane killjoy within their walls. Korse probably had them on an extra strong, addictive dose of the drug that’d kill them in minutes if given enough. They were strong willed, hopefully they didn’t submit immediately, but how long was BLI gonna keep them alive if they didn’t submit? Kobra sure hoped that whatever Poison did, they didn’t let those fuckers break them. He didn’t know what he’d do if they found him and they were broken beyond repair. Even if they gave up once D had tried to get them off. He needed his big sibling. His strong, persistent, loud, obnoxious sibling. Kobra never knew he could miss Poison’s relentless teasing and shitty jokes so much until right now.

###  **Poison**

At this point, the only way they were able to keep time was by keeping tally marks that they had scratched into the side of their bed. Their nails were practically shredded and their fingers were peeling from the abuse but they just leaned against the wall and stared at the still untouched plate of food. Seven days. One whole week where they had managed to not eat, to not ingest whatever fucked up bullshit BLI was trying to feed them. They knew something was in there, no matter how many times Korse assured them that the food wasn’t drugged. Since when were they gonna trust the head Scarecrow? But they were fucking starving. But they were used to hunger by now. 

Fuck, their mind was barely staying on a straight path anymore. They were tired, they were hungry, their skin was raw from the… the things Korse had done to them. More than just sex, unwanted sex for that matter, he had decided it would be ‘fun’ to beat Poison until tears were flowing down their cheeks. He had whipped them and bit them and scratched at them until they ran out of tears. And now Poison was laying again, covered in blankets to keep themself feeling as if they still had a little bit of modesty. As if there was still some part of their self-worth that hadn’t been ripped away and completely and utterly demolished by this Scarecrow bastard.

Just as Poison was wiping their eyes, trying their hardest to keep from bursting into tears at the thought of what their crew was going through, a woman walked into the room. She was rather pretty with cropped black hair and she smiled at Poison, though beautiful, it was cruel and cold and seemed to have no trace of happiness or kindness within it. And they froze. They didn’t recognize her but they knew exactly who this was and now they were horrified. It was the Director.

“Party Poison, right?” she said in an obviously mock kind voice. Poison nodded quickly and tried to back up into the headboard more than they already were. “Korse tells me you’re not being the most cooperative, are you little killjoy?”

Poison broke eye contact and pulled their legs to their chest. If this woman honestly believed they’d be giving her the satisfaction of a response, she was dead wrong. They glanced up briefly and saw her raise an eyebrow at Poison’s lack of response. She merely crossed her arms and took a step closer.

“He tells me you’re waiting for the rest of your crew, is that right? You really think they’re coming for you?” she taunted, amusement creeping into her tone. “You think you really meant anything to them in the first place?”

Fuck, Poison wanted to argue so badly. Jet was the kindest person in the world and wouldn’t even let a Drac run without the rest, they knew he would try to get them back. They had grown up with Kobra and protected their baby brother for both of their entire lives, Kobra would do the same for them in a second. And Ghoul, well Ghoul was their love, their darling. He would be broken without them, he needed them. How badly Poison wanted to spit in the Director’s face and tell this to her. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t speak. That’s what she wanted.

“Honey, I’m sorry to tell you that they aren’t coming for you,” she continued, moving so she was kneeling in front of Poison, reaching a manicured hand to clutch their arm. “They never cared enough about you for that. You never know who you can trust out there in the desert, do you?”

Poison shook their head, trying so hard to will themself to keep their mouth shut. They knew they were coming, they just knew it. Their crew loved them too much. What was the Fabulous Four without the fourth member? If nothing else, they were the face of the entire fucking revolution!! If what the Director was saying was even partially true, would the guys rather let Poison die a shameful death or a martyr out in the desert? But finally, the hunger and exhaustion and pain overtook them and finally cracked them. And they spoke.

“You bitch. You nasty bitch, they’re coming, I know they are, I love them!! They’re fucking coming!!” Despite how weak they felt (and were), their voice was harsh and packed just the punch they needed it too. But the Director’s response was just a sly smile. 

“I’m so sorry, Dear,” was all she said as she patted Poison’s shoulder and smoothed their hair back. “Korse bugged that little boyfriend on yours before he left. We know exactly what they’re doing and saying… They’re not coming.”

“You didn’t.”

“Come with me and you can see for yourself.” She helped Poison stand as they could barely move on their own. They felt hunger pains sharp in their stomach. They had definitely gone this long without eating before and it had been hell but typically they’d at least find some cactus or something that tasted like shit, but once you got the spikes off it was edible enough.

But gross desert cactus wasn’t what should’ve been on Poison’s mind right now. Once they had repelled the thought of how much they wanted some sort of  _ food  _ they took a moment to let the Director’s words sink in. Not the words that they weren’t coming, but when she had claimed that Korse had bugged Ghoul. That meant other than the fact they could see and hear everything he did, that their crew could be  _ tracked _ . BLI could track them and find them and kill them or give them the same fate that Poison was in right now. No, that couldn’t happen to any of them. They felt their already short breath become even shorter as the Director practically lugged them into another dark room. 

“Just watch.” Her voice wasn’t as sharp anymore or nearly as cruel. Now her voice was soft and comforting, laced with pity.  _ Don’t pity me you heartless whore _ , Poison longed to shout at her. But they could barely summon the strength to sit up straight let alone shout something and quite possibly defend themself if she had called for backup. The combination of the hunger, exhaustion, and exploitation was really starting to tear Poison down.

The screen lit up and Poison first saw the camera get thrown to the side and land on the sandy ground. They had bugged Ghoul’s jacket it seemed and they felt a weight lift from their chest. If he happened to forget his jacket somewhere (which he did) he wouldn’t be as easy to track. They first noticed Ghoul’s face and a soft grin spread across their face. It felt so nice to see him again. Their chest warmed at the sight and they let out a content hum as they heard him begin to speak.

“I lost them,” he said with a sigh. “Looks like BLI finally got their fucking citizen of the month. They’re gonna have some fun with that one, aren’t they?”

Poison’s face fell immediately and they shrunk back into themself. Why would Ghoul talk about them like that… Like they were just an object? They felt their chest squeeze and tighten all over again when they heard soft chuckles from Kobra and Jet ring out.

“I can’t believe it actually worked,” Jet had exclaimed, throwing his arms out. “We’ve been trying to get rid of them fucking forever and it finally worked! Feels nice, doesn’t it?”

Kobra nodded and stretched as Ghoul went on. “They looked so fucking upset too, you shoulda seen it!! I almost feel bad for them, they probably are sitting there waiting for us… The poor bastard.”

“Don’t think about it, it’ll make you regret it,” Kobra said, leaning back and kicking his legs onto a backpack in front of him. “Just feel good about the fact that they’re finally gone. After all this time too.”

“I hope Korse ghosts their sorry ass soon as he can,” Ghoul agreed with a curt nod. “We won’t have to worry about running into them again. Them trying to make amends if they get out.”

“Nah, there’s no way they’re getting out,” said Jet with crossed arms and a dirty grin on his face. “We’ll just tell D they got killed, that way he won’t send anyone. We’ll have a short funeral at D’s, fake sad for a bit, and then we’ll never have to think about goddamn Party Poison ever again.”

“Thank the witch for that,” Kobra chuckled, stretching again, looking over at the camera in Ghoul’s jacket just as Poison felt tears begin to stream down their face again. “Hey dude, what’s that in your jacket?”

Ghoul looked over as well. There must’ve been a little light or blinking or something because the next thing Poison knew, Kobra had thrown a rock at the jacket and the camera blinked out.

Poison gasped softly and rubbed their eyes violently. They couldn’t believe it, they just couldn’t. There was no way that their crew really felt that way about them, no that couldn’t be possible. They loved them, they fucking loved them, didn’t they? They collapsed to the ground in a snotty, sobbing mess and felt like their world was collapsing in on them. The Director walked towards them and drew a finger down their back as if trying to comfort them. She helped them stand and murmured things to them as she took them back to their room but they didn’t hear a single one. Their mind was too preoccupied feeling so completely and utterly betrayed by the people they had loved most in the world. So once she had helped them back into their bed and left the room, they took one more look at the obviously, heavily drugged plate of food. Their will was broken, they had nothing left to wait for, nothing left to live for. Might as well live their last days in comfort. So they swallowed what hope they may have had left and buried it deep in their chest where they’d never find it and began to eat.

###  **Ghoul**

Despite the fact that there was literally nothing that was too much when it came to saving Poison’s life but Ghoul had practically threatened Pony saying that if they brought those scissors anywhere close to his hair, he’d hit them. They hadn’t touched Jet’s so they better not touch his either. Pony just chuckled softly and tied up his hair behind him, managing to get it as small a bun as possible so it looked like his hair was short enough so he’d fit in Bat City.

“You still look pretty, don’t worry,” Pony had assured him, smiling as they had fixed him up and gotten him a suitcase of plain, City accepted clothing. “In case that’s what you’re thinking about.”

“I’m not, I just want them back,” Ghoul said, staring at himself with a wounded expression. He just wanted to kiss Poison again, to hold them in his arms and promise that everything would be okay. Once he got Poison back he was never going to let them get too far from him ever again.

“Aw, I know you do, sweetie,” Pony muttered, wrapping their arms around his shoulders. “I know how hard this is for you, you loved him so much. But you’re so brave, Ghoulie, you’re so fucking brave for what you and the guys are doing. And you’re gonna get them back, I know you are. If anybody can, it’s the Fabulous Four. I know you guys and you’re all persistent as fuck. So you guys go and kill those fuckers that took them. Go get your partner back.”

Ghoul nodded sharply and leaned into Pony. “Fuck, I love you, dude. You don’t know how amazing you are. We’ll get them back. We’ll try so hard and we will get them back.”

“I know you will, sweetheart. You guys are the strongest killjoys I know.”

* * *

The Trans Am had to stay at D’s radio shack while they had gone, it would be easily recognized by BLI and they get easily caught. D had managed to get a car for the three to use, go into the city with and take back. They had changed into the ‘city clothes’ that Pony had given them and each of them thanked Pony and D and they all went to drive to the city. 

The air in the car on the way to BLI was tense and angry as Ghoul sat in the back seat, tapping his fingers onto his thigh. The only image on his mind was the beautiful golden eyes, the soft scarlet hair. Just the comforting thought of Poison. They were gorgeous, they were kind… they didn’t deserve what could possibly be happening to them right now. They squeezed their eyes shut and hugged themself, as if they could somehow communicate their thoughts to Poison.  _ Don’t let them break you, love,  _ he thought, hoping that somehow, some way, they could hear his voice in their mind and take it as the comfort they needed to keep going.  _ Please my love, don’t let them break you. No matter what. _

The white car that D had lended the three drove into the city slowly as if Jet was anxious somebody would stop them. Hopefully that they wasn’t recognized by anyone or reported. That would be terrible, it would stop them from finding Poison. And Ghoul needed them like he needed air, he was drowning on dry land without them.

“How the fuck are we gonna get into BLI?” Kobra sighed as they entered. “We can get in the city no problem, but how’re we getting in the city?”

“Simple,” Jet said, with a small grin on his face. “We let them catch us.”

“Are you fucking insane?” Ghoul screeched, causing Jet to almost crash the car into a building. “We’re not letting them fucking catch us! That’s the whole point of the disguises!!”

“No, I don’t mean like  _ that _ ,” said Jet, stopping outside a building. “They do weekly checks on the medication, you know. They do weekly checks, I don’t remember when, we’ll have to check… but they do checks every now and then. They’ll find us, scan us, see that we have virtually none of their happy pills in our system… then they’ll take us into the main building for reconditioning.”

Kobra smiled and punched Jet’s arm softly. “You’re a fucking genius!! Yeah, ‘cause the Dracs don’t have any way to know it’s us. Korse doesn’t do those checks. So we’ll definitely get in.”

Ghoul sighed. “I still don’t really like it,” he murmured. “Like I want them back more than I want anything but the chance of one of us dying… Fuck, what D said really scared me. That the chances of getting them back to normal are so low. I don’t want to lose you guys to a lost cause.” He realized how unlike himself he sounded as he spoke, but he was scared, he was so so scared. He missed his partner, he really did, but the idea of losing Jet or Kobra and not even able to get the real, true Poison back… that woulda felt awful. 

Jet looked back at Ghoul for a second with a somber expression on his face. “I know you’re scared. I know you miss them and I know you're scared for us… But weren’t you the one saying that no matter what, we had to try? ‘We can’t abandon them,’ you remember that, right?”

Ghoul smiled to himself softly. He did say that, didn’t he? “I was right, we can’t. I love them. You know what, if it comes to that, it’s gonna be me, alright guys? I’m gonna be the one who loses their life for them if any of us need too, I’m not letting this shit happen to you two.”

“How about it doesn’t happen to any of us?” Kobra said quietly. “Poison’s gonna be devastated if they lose any of us. They’re already going through hell, let’s not give them that extra pain.”

Ghoul nodded. “Yeah, but if it comes to that. We lost them because of me and my fucking incompetence in the first place. I’m not letting you guys get hurt because I’m an idiot.”

Jet stopped the car in a parking lot next door to the main BLI building. “It’s not your fault, Ghoul. It’s not your fault at all. They’re an adult, they aren’t your responsibility. Please don’t blame yourself, you did nothing wrong. You tried to save them, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, I did.”

“Then you’ve got nothing to feel bad for. You’re an amazing boyfriend, you were just trying to give them a nice little date. I’m sure they don’t blame you, Ghoulie, they love you so much.”

Ghoul nodded stoically, leaning against the car window. The guys just sat there for a moment, waiting for the gravity of what they were about to do to settle. They were about to live in Battery City until the pill scans. They were about to let a Draculoid take them into Better Living Industries and even start a reconditioning process. None of them had ever been through that before, what if something happened to them because of it? What if one of them happened to get sucked in through the reconditioning and got hooked on BLI’s pills?

And even through all that, Ghoul couldn’t bring himself to accept Jet’s words. What if Poison did blame him for their capture? What if when they got them out, he didn’t want to be with Ghoul anymore because they believed he could’ve stopped Korse and he failed? That scared him more than anything had ever before. Ghoul loved that killjoy so much, the idea of living without them was so scary. So as he did earlier, he squeezed his eyes shut and willed that somehow Poison could hear his thoughts and believe him. Find some comfort.  _ I tried, Pois, _ he thought, feeling a single tear slip quickly down his cheek.  _ You’ve gotta believe me. _

Oh, how crazy he probably seemed, trying to think in order to communicate with his partner. But he needed something to cling onto. Something to make him feel just a little bit better. Ghoul opened his eyes again and sat up straight, taking in a loud sigh and looking next to him at the BLI building. He gazed into the tall, glassy windows and it hurt to know that somewhere in that crystal maze was Party Poison. Or at least what was left of Party Poison. Ghoul needed them back and no matter what, he was gonna make sure that Poison was back in his arms again. Because if he lost them over this, he’d surely go insane.


	4. IV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is SHIT but it's also long so enjOYYY!!!   
> ps please give me feedback, comments always make my day!!!

###  **Jet**

It hadn’t taken long for the three to find somewhere to stay. They had managed to trade in the carbons they had for whatever the BLI currency was and rented out a room in a hotel. The guys had just anxiously sat in their beds for a bit, silent with anxious thoughts running through their minds. It wasn’t long before Kobra and Ghoul had settled into bed, Ghoul insisting on sleeping alone. He wasn’t about to let anybody other than Poison share sheets with him. Once Jet was sure they were asleep though, he had dug his radio out of a bag he had lugged with him and brought himself into the bathroom. It was so strange to be somewhere so clean, so sterile… so just white and plain. Jet ran his fingers through his mass of curls and leaned against the wall.

“Pony? You still up?” he murmured silently into his radio. They glanced back into the room for a moment, looking at the sleeping forms of Kobra and Ghoul. He really wished the two could be at ease for a night, but there were just so many things for them to be worrying about. They were all worried about what was going to happen when they were submitted to the reconditioning, rightfully so as they all assumed that  _ somebody _ wouldn’t make it out.

“Oh, hi Jet!!” they said, a big smile obvious in their voice. “Did you guys get to the city okay? What’re you doing now?”

Jet grinned at the familiar, peppy sound of their voice. Pony deserved the world, didn’t they? “Yeah, we’re in a hotel now. Kobra and Ghoul are sleeping, Ghoul’s… he’s really lonely without Poison, I can tell. He doesn’t even have Poison’s jacket that he’s been cuddling with for a bit, and I feel really fucking bad, man.”

“I bet,” said Pony. “They were really in love… it was so cute.”

Jet nodded even though he knew Pony couldn't see him. “Yep, and now we’re gonna fucking… raid BLI in an attempt to get them back together.”

“Do you guys have a plan yet?” Their voice sounded anxious as Jet tapped his foot anxiously against the tile. Huh, that was odd, he had never been a fidgety person. It was true though, that the circumstances now were for more anxiety inducing than they typically were. 

“That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about,” said Jet with a nervous chuckle. “My plan… it’s really fucking stupid. I--I have a pretty good feeling I’m gonna get one of us killed.”

Pony sucked in a sharp breath. “Why’s that?”

“I’m--” Jet took a breath before continuing, realizing how fucking stupid he was for suggesting this plan in such confidence. “When the Draculoids come for the regular pill scan we were gonna… we were gonna let ourselves get caught by them and taken to BLI and subjected to the reconditioning. I feel like it’s really gonna fuck up at least one of us.”

Pony was silent for at least five minutes while Jet stood there, tapping his foot. He bit his lip as he waited for his friend as they processed Jet’s plan. “Well, I think that it’s definitely the most efficient way since you guys don’t wanna be storming BLI. Just be careful, please. I know you guys want to get Poison back by any means necessary but please don’t get yourselves killed over it. They wouldn’t want that.”

Jet nodded slowly before realizing Pony couldn’t see them. “Ye--yeah, you’re right. We’ll be careful, we promise.”

He could hear Pony’s smile in their voice as they spoke their next words. “Good. You guys are so fucking great, I just  _ know  _ you’re gonna get Poison back. You guys are the strongest ‘joys I know and you all care about each other so much. If anyone can get Poison back, it’s you guys.”

Jet smiled big to himself, leaning heavily against a wall. “Thanks, Pony. You’re the greatest. Tell D we miss him, ‘kay?”

Pony chuckled softly. “He’d never say it to your face, but he’s hella worried about you all. I can tell.”

Jet laughed. “Agh, I love that guy. Alright, ‘night Pony, love ya.”

“Sleep well,” their voice rang out before leaving Jet, once again alone in the clean, white of the Battery City hotel.

* * *

“Wake up, boys!!” Ghoul’s voice rang out, causing Kobra to throw himself into Jet. Opening his heavy eyes, Jet looked up at Ghoul who was all up and ready, which seemed rather odd since he had never been a morning person. Poison would always spend what sometimes added up to hours of laying in bed and trying to pester him awake. 

“What the fuck are you doing up?” groaned Kobra, turning back around towards the wall, on the opposite side of where Ghoul was. “It’s early even for Poison.”

Ghoul went up and grabbed Jet’s sleeve, yanking him up. “That’s the point, man.”

“The scan isn’t for another few days,” Jet said, pushing his friend off of him. “We can’t do anything for quite some time, Ghoul.”

Ghoul just shrugged and leaned against the wall, suddenly seeming significantly more limp and upset. “Still.”

Kobra turned over on the bed and looked at his friend with a questioning look on his face, sitting up and crossing his arms. “Ghoul. If Poison were here they’d slap you.”

Ghoul brought his hands to his face and groaned loudly. “Can you please stop saying their name? It fucking hurts, you know? I don’t want to think about them, I really don’t want to. I miss them.”

Jet felt a pang in his chest as Ghoul spoke. The poor guy was so lonely without Poison, in the two years they had been together, they had become practically a part of him. And now having lost who was surely his other half, he was completely falling apart. “Ghoul--” Jet said softly, reaching out to touch him, causing him to flinch away and let himself slide down the wall with his knees pulled up to his chest.

Ghoul shook his head, breaking eye contact with the two. Tears were prominent and he rubbed his eyes roughly. “I miss them. I miss them so fucking much, man. They’re so soft and sweet and I’m so worried about what’s going to happen to them, like I said, they’re  _ so soft _ . As strong as they are, I don’t know if they’ll make it. I really don’t know if they’ll make it. I’m so fucking scared of losing them, I need them, I really do.” Ghoul pressed his face into his arms, gasping heavily as he sobbed into his arms.

Jet stood up with furrowed brows as he moved to place an arm on his shoulder. He looked back at Kobra who had sat up and leaned against the bed. He had his arms wrapped around himself and Jet frowned, he knew how badly both boys were affected by losing Poison.

“Ghoul…” Jet said quietly. “Hey, you know Poison loves you so much. They’re not gonna let themself break until they come back to you. They’ll be okay, they’re gonna survive this. They’re one strong motherfucker. They’re gonna get through this, if I know anything about this, they’re going to get through this.”

Kobra nodded and stood up. “They’re gonna. I know they’ll get through this, they were put through hell and back before we left the city and I know they’re gonna make it. You’re right they  _ are _ soft as fuck, but if I know anything about them then I know they’ll make it. Trust me.”

Ghoul wiped his eyes again and wiped his eyes roughly. “Thanks so much, guys. I just… I really love them. I want them back.”

“We all do,” Kobra said quietly. “We all need them here…”

Everyone was pretty much quiet after that. Ghoul silently sobbed into Jet’s shoulder and Kobra sat heavily against the headstand, leaning his head back and staring blankly at the ceiling. Jet hadn’t realized how affected everyone was by Poison’s loss until right now. They were all so broken, so completely broken. If they weren’t able to get Poison back and back to normal in the end, it was quite possible that the Fabulous Four would just fall away and disintegrate. They had held them all together. What would they become if they never got Poison back? Nothing good for that matter.

###  **Poison**

Time had become completely meaningless to Poison now. They didn’t know how many hours and days had passed now as everyday, they took more of the remarkably high doses of pills that Korse had grinded up into their food. They had sat through the torture and rape with completely blank expressions on their face. It had gotten to the point that Korse was getting visibly frustrated with Poison’s lack of reaction as if he  _ wanted _ to see Poison in pain, the fucking sadist.

Like right now, Poison was laying underneath Korse with no emotions throughout their entire demeanor, limp on the bed. They felt sharp nails digging into their arm as if to get some small response. They let out what sounded like a small mewl and that was enough for Korse, he chuckled wickedly as he continued, the anger melting away from his face.

Poison’s vision was blurry and their head was pounding. They saw an image in their mind, a small boy with dark hair and a sly smile. Who was he, fuck, they felt as if they should know him. He looked so familiar, too!! It took them a minute, of laying there, completely numb to Korse’s torture at this point. Finally, after probably a good five minutes of confusion, after Korse had finished up and left the room, Poison remembered a name.  _ Fun Ghoul. _ They grinned to themself softly at the name until another few minutes when they remembered what the Director had shown him. Ghoul didn’t love them as much as they might’ve loved him. In fact, he didn’t seem to love them at all. Dammit, now they were tearing up, they didn’t know why they were so broken up over a boy who obviously didn’t care for him. But even though they couldn’t let themself feel like this, they didn’t want to love him so much if he didn’t love them, they still glanced to the wall, with tears streaming down their face and took shaky breaths as they whispered,

“I miss you…” They wanted to believe Ghoul would come for them. They wanted to believe BLI was faking the whole tape, but how would they have even done that? Was something that was even  _ possible _ , even in the city? They didn’t think so. And they were already so far gone, it had taken them far too long to remember the boy they had been absolutely smitten for, for over two years now. That was the moment they decided that as long as they could remember him, they’d hang on to his memory. Even if he didn’t love them back, he’d hold onto them. Hold onto those wonderful memories of the two years they had spent together. The two absolutely incredible years where Poison had been so happy, so in love… They’d do anything to get that back. Anything to feel that strongly about somebody again. 

But not just anybody, they wanted  _ Ghoul. _ They wanted him, nobody else and if they couldn’t have him, then what were they even living for? Well, they were barely living now, were they? They let out a weak groan as they heard the large metal door creak open. They saw no face, just a plate of likely drugged food being nudged into the room. They had completely given up at this point so they weakly reached forward to grab the plate and managed to force it down their throat before leaning back and drifting into a restless sleep.

* * *

_ Poison laid back at the diner in the lap of the beautiful Fun Ghoul. They looked up at him with a big grin on their face as he caressed their cheek and leaned in to press a kiss to their lips.  _

_ “You’re so fucking pretty,” he mused as he ran fingers through their hair. “I love you so much, you know that? You’re the most wonderful, gorgeous person I’ve ever laid my eyes on. I wanna be with you forever.” _

_ Poison blushed the same color as their hair as they gripped Ghoul’s free hand tightly. “How are you so fucking sweet, Darling?” _

_ Ghoul kissed them again, twirling blood red strands between his fingers as he shrugged, saying, “I’m not being sweet if it’s true, love.” Poison scoffed and Ghoul pushed them off his lap before continuing, “No, I mean it. You’re the love of my life!! I’m being serious, you bitch!!” _

_ “You’re so loving,” Poison teased, reaching a hand up to brush his fingers against Ghoul’s jawlines. Ghoul chuckled to himself and ran a hand lightly down Poison’s chest. For a moment, they just sat there silently, enjoying each other’s company as Ghoul played with their hair with one hand and ran cold fingers down their skin with the other. Poison traced across the tattoos on his calf, their head rested on his thigh as the two just sat together, happy and in love. _

_ It was moments like these Poison wished they could have more of. It didn’t happen nearly enough, the two were very rarely alone. Whether they were with Kobra and Jet, on a run, or interrupted by an exterminator or some Dracs, moments alone seemed never to happen as much as the two craved it. So when they finally got it, they embraced every second of it, just so remarkably in love and happy. Something not enough people in their world got to experience. So moments right now were definitely few and far between. Everything was quiet and calm and loving and perfect… _

* * *

Wh en Poison awoke from that perfect dream, tears were streaming down their cheeks at a rapid rate. They leaned harshly into the bedframe and sobbed loudly, wrapping arms around their shoulders as they cried. How could something so sweet, so perfect, be lost so quickly? How was it possible that all of that was fake? That Ghoul meant none of that? Their sobs were loud and echoed through the room as their head pounded and their heart raced from a mix of the drugs and the pain of remembering. But they didn’t wanna remember anymore, they didn’t want to have Ghoul’s gorgeous eyes, his radiant smile constantly in the back of his mind.

After quite some time of just loudly sobbing all alone, Poison heard the door open and they shuddered as they saw Korse walk through the door with their regular morning plate of food, greeted by Poison’s broken form.

Placing the food down next to them, Korse kneeled down with some sort of twisted smile on his face. “Aw, is baby sad? Missing their love perhaps?” he taunted as he twirled grainy strands of hair between his fingers. Poison looked up and wiped their eyes before they took the food in their lap.

“Can you make me forget?” they practically whimpered, shaking as a thin, skeletal finger moved to touch Poison’s chin and bring their face up to meet his eyes.

“Forget what in particular, love?” he went on as he chuckled wickedly to himself. “I can make you forget a lot of things but… I can’t be certain until you tell me what.”

“Him,” Poison croaked simply. “I wanna forget him. Fun Ghoul. The--” Their voice broke as they continued, “--fucking  _ bastard.  _ He told me h--He told me he loved me. I don’t wanna remember him.”

Promising themself to keep ahold of his memory seemed like a good idea when they had first proposed it to themself. In fact, it seemed as if it would keep them sane. Keep them fighting. But that dream, that memory had made it all too much. Just the  _ though _ of him and what they used to be hurt like hell and they didn’t know if they could take much more. What were they fighting for anymore anyway? It wasn’t like they had anyone who wanted them back. Anyone who’d fight for them. There was no point, so they just looked up at Korse, wiped the tears from their eyes and waited for his response. 

Korse chuckled again, pulling himself back for a moment to think. “I can make you forget him, I can make you forget the way his body felt on yours, the way his lips tasted, hell, I can even make you forget the sound of his voice,” he began and Poison felt the relief wash down their body. All they wanted was for his memory to be gone. But then Korse continued and they tensed all over again, “or… or I can make you forget everything. Not a single memory of your old crew, the assholes who betrayed you, no memory of who you used to be. Sounds pretty pleasing right now, doesn’t it?”

“Please…” they groaned, managing to muster the last of their strength as Korse kneeled on the bed in front of them 

“We can begin your treatment after something brief…” he said quietly and brought his lips roughly to theirs, ready to ruin their life for the billionth time.

###  **Kobra**

Ghoul’s meltdown had been two days ago now. Two days where the three remaining of the Fabulous Four had done nothing but mourn their lost friend who they wanted, no they needed back so badly. They seemed practically useless without Poison, their friend, their sibling, their leader. Poison, the face of the whole rebellion. Poison, the sole motivation behind everything they were working for. Who kept them sane and happy for so long.

And now today was the day!! The day the guys all so anxiously awaited the wait of Draculoids to check them, notice the lack of medication, and drag them into BLI. Kobra was scared, in fact he was horrified, messing with the zipper of his jacket as he watched Ghoul pace the room and Jet fiddle with his radio. He looked at the two others and held it up, a nervous look on his face.

“We should call them. D and Pony. This’ll be the last time they hear from us before we get Poison out,” Jet said as he messed with the dials. “Just to let them know that we’re doing it today. Or, soon that is.”

“Yeah,” Kobra murmured, his voice barely more than a silent breath. Everyone was so stiff, so anxious, it gave a very uncomfortable feel to the rest of the room. They were all scared and for the first time since they’d met, Ghoul seemed completely silent. He was upset and anxious and so were the other two. Kobra shuddered as Jet silently turned the dials to reach the right frequency, letting static boom around the room before they heard a high nervous voice fill their ears.

“Guys? That you?” Pony said quietly.

“Yeah, yeah, it’s us,” Jet said, his mouth curving into a slight smile. “We’re getting checked today. So this’ll probably be the last time we can contact you guys.”

“Today? Tha-that’s so soon though… can’t you guys wait another week?” They sounded very worried, seemingly so nervous for their friends and Kobra couldn’t blame them. They were about to walk into something that would surely kill them. But just as Jet opened his mouth to speak, Ghoul interrupted.

“We need to get Poison soon as possible, Pony,” This was the first time Ghoul had spoken all day and he sounded passionate. He clearly loved Poison like mad and his spark to get them back seemed to be lit all over again.

Kobra heard Point suck in a sharp breath before continuing. “Yo-you’re right, you’re right. I’ll get D, he’s got experience with reconditioning, he can help you guys.” Pony then seemed to get up and rush over to wherever D was sitting, the three all sending uncomfortable glances to each other. They were all so scared and Pony’s obvious worry didn’t make them feel one bit better.

“Boys,” his gruff voice started, ringing through the room, managing to spark a smile from Kobra and Jet, Ghoul still looking ready to punch a wall. “The Dracs are checking today?” He didn’t sound nearly as worried as Pony, despite having gone through these things himself. And if Kobra was being honest, it made him feel a lot better about the whole ordeal.

Jet nodded before continuing, “Yeah, in a minute we were gonna go bring the radio to your car and wait for them to come. Do you--do you think it’ll be okay?”

D sighed loudly through the receiver before going on. “You guys are strong. Some of the strongest fuckers I’ve ever met. You’ll make it, it’s tricky but I know you will. Just don’t take any of the drugs they try to give you. You’ll be hooked right away. You’ll need to make sure you stay together and make sure you get to Poison immediately or you’re not getting out of there.”

Kobra’s breath caught and both his friends looked in his direction. “You okay, dude?” Ghoul said quietly, moving to sit down next to Kobra and pressing his palm against his back as Jet glanced anxiously in his direction.

“What if they seperate us?” he whispered, crossing his arms and leaning back. “I’m not gonna be able to hold back. I’m gonna get fucking hooked and we’ll never get Poison back and--”

“Listen, kid,” D interrupted. “I know you’re scared. If you weren’t you’d be a fucking moron and I wouldn’t let you anywhere near the Bat City entrance. But if you want Poison back bad enough, which I know you do, you won’t let yourself get hooked. I know it. Don’t worry Kobra, you’re strong. I know you all.”

Kobra nodded and took in another small breath. “Th-thanks.” He looked from Ghoul to Jet and went on, “We should leave soon. The Dracs’ll be arriving any moment now.”

Jet nodded and the three said goodbye to Pony and Jet before going to return their radio to the car so it wouldn’t get confiscated. And once they returned to the hotel it was simply a long, painful waiting game.

* * *

Kobra didn’t know what he expected when the Dracs came to check them. Maybe it’d be angrily busting the door down and pushing them against walls but he definitely wasn’t expecting a quiet knock on the door and three masked individuals slowly entering in V-formation. The Dracs in the back both held rayguns and the one in front held some sort of strange device as they walked to Jet, the killjoy closest to them as they pricked his finger with the device. He looked to his friends with his brows furrowed in worry as they sat as his blood processed. The device beeped and the three jumped as one of the three Dracs moved to grab Jet, causing him to emit a soft, ‘fuck,’ as they held his hands behind his back.

Kobra was next and Ghoul left his hand on his shoulder as long as he possibly could. He flinched as the small needle pricked his finger and he looked to Jet who mouthed, ‘Stay calm, you’ll be okay,’ as the blood processed. Before long, he was being tightly gripped by the shoulders and thrown to the Drac standing next to Jet. Kobra looked to each of the three Dracs as Ghoul was pricked with the worst thoughts in his mind. What if one of these Dracs was Poison and they were going on a useless mission to find someone who had no part of them left to find? Some soulless Draculoid who was damaged far beyond repair? He quickly shook the though from his mind and though of D’s words. No, they were determined to find Poison, Kobra wasn’t going to let himself believe Poison was broken beyond repair.

Kobra could barely remember being taken to the transport vehicle. But once he was thrown in with Ghoul and Jet, he felt a knot loosen in his chest. So far, they were staying together, despite how tight the squeeze in the back must’ve been. So they all sat together, knowing if they spoke at all the Drac in the back with them might shoot. So they squeezed each other’s hands and waited for them to arrive at the main building.

The arrival was quite melodramatic, they were loaded into the building with armed Dracs surrounding them on all sides. There were plenty of other groups of people, mainly teenagers, people around their age, just looking to rebel, only a few of them actually feeling connected to the cause of the killjoys, the true rebellion. They were all loaded into a bright, white room with the others where they were all stripped (in front of everything, which made Kobra want to run and hide, though nobody seemed to acknowledge each other) and changed into plain, white clothing. And that was the last moment Kobra had any confidence he’d get out of there. From then on, everybody was separated, taken by their own Drac and moved on to take them to their own room. Fuck. D had just warned them about that. Ghoul had seemed to try and fight, get away from the Drac’s arms and he managed to for a moment, immediately running in Kobra’s directions until he was tackled by at least three Dracs.

“No!” Kobra shrieked, reaching out as the Drac tried to contain him. Kobra looked to Jet and saw how his eyes darted back and forth. 

“Let go of me, you asshole!!” Ghoul screeched, kicking and flailing, his voice high and angry as he fought. But Kobra didn’t get to see what happened next as he was torn out of the area Ghoul was in and after walking for a bit, he was thrown into an even more plain, even whiter room.

“Welcome to Better Living Industries, valued Battery City citizen,” a soft female voice boomed through the room. “If you are hearing this message, you were found with dangerously low levels of the BLI issued medication. You will be subject to one week of therapy followed by our brief reconditioning procedure. You will be assigned a Better Living Therapist tomorrow morning after breakfast and held on a strict schedule until released. Thank you for your cooperation.”

Kobra scoffed, immediately throwing both middle fingers up and walking around the room. “Fuck you!! Wherever you are  _ fuck. You. _ I’m gonna get out of here, I fucking will!! Don’t fucking test me, I want my fucking sibling back!!”

He had probably said too much, but how would they know it was Poison? They wouldn’t know who he was unless Korse came right up close to him. But he wasn’t about to let BLI break him, he was going to find Jet and Ghoul and he was going to get Poison back.

###  **Korse**

Every single day since Poison had asked to forget, Korse had brought them the highest possible dose of medication that wouldn’t kill them. And since then the changes in them had been nothing short of beautiful. They were completely willing now to bend to the will of him and the Director and he was pleased. He opened the door and was greeted by Poison’s destroyed form, merely a shell of the killjoy they were when they had been brought in.

“Hello, my love,” Korse mused as he entered, petting Poison’s hair softly as their beautiful face looked up to greet him. “The Director told me you couldn’t even think for yourself anymore when she checked on you last night. Care to prove yourself?”

Poison groaned silently, spreading their legs on instinct. They knew just what Korse wanted when he entered the room and he smiled to himself. “So she was right. Not a single memory left in your mind of that pretty little boyfriend of yours? Of who you used to be?”

Poison’s response was a soft mew and Korse laughed, pressing a harsh kiss onto their lips. They didn’t fight anymore, just complying with the kiss and even pulling him in closer. Korse chuckled into the kiss and pet them softly. They wouldn’t fight anymore and there was no way anyone trying to get back to them wouldn’t even recognize the mess of a killjoy they had become. But to Korse, they were pure, affected beauty at it’s finest.


	5. V

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> woah, i really said fuck a posting schedule didn't i.... sorry about how late this one is. hope it was worth the wait regardless!!

###  **Ghoul**

Jumping the Drac was a serious mistake. He had gotten scared once they had started to get separated and had panicked, acting on a complete impulse. Of course, now he regretted it, being covered in blood and bruises, sitting in a small medical room where a woman watched him from behind a glass door as somebody else tended to his wounds. Nobody said anything for quite some time as he just sat with his arm crossed as the man with him cleaned his cuts. Before long, the woman grinned wickedly and began to speak.

“Well, well, well, we got a feisty one here, don’t we?” she said, an awful, teasing tone in her voice. She wasn’t close enough to get a good look at him, but he absolutely hated the way that her gaze seemed to trail up and down his body.

He flipped her off, refusing to speak, to give her the satisfaction of a response. But she just continued, “You know, if you fight, we’ll be forced to shorten your therapy and send you right to the reconditioning. That’s what happens when bad citizens don’t cooperate.”

_ I’m not one of your brainless citizens _ , Ghoul wanted to scream.  _ You can’t touch me. I’m a fucking Killjoy, bitch. _ But he couldn’t expose himself, he’d get attacked, his crew would be found out. He couldn’t do that to them. He couldn’t do that to Poison. Forcing them to undergo any more than they already had was the worst thing he could possibly do as their lover. 

“Now are you going to cooperate for us, dearest?” the woman said, speaking to Ghoul as if he was a child, which absolutely disgusted him. The tone of her voice and just the overall manner of her made him want to jump from the table and punch her in the face. He wanted to jump towards her and rip her throat out, question her about what had happened to Poison, what she had done to them. Did she know where they were? Did they have a part in whatever was happening to them?

Ghoul just shrugged and he heard her  _ tsk _ softly. “If you don’t cooperate, then you’ll be back on the medication sooner. I know how much you wanna rebel. How much you don’t want those in your system.”

She was right, Ghoul would rather eat his own shit before he took another one of those pills. So he just nodded slowly and crossed his arms. The more he cooperated, the sooner he’d get to see Jet and Kobra again. And then the sooner Ghoul would get to see Poison again.

So he was quiet and cooperative, letting the medic treat his cuts and bruises. He sent filthy glares in both the direction of both the medic and the woman, trying to give them some sort of hint that he was pissed and he was going to hunt them down and make sure they could never hurt somebody the way that they were again.

“Alright, he’s patched enough,” the woman said. “He can heal the rest on his own, he thinks he’s the strongest fucker in this room, we’ll let him prove it to us.”

Ghoul practically growled at the woman, the most sound he had let come from his mouth this whole time. He spat at her as he felt himself get yanked up by two Dracs, both his arms restrained as they dragged him into his cell.

“Fuck all of you!” Ghoul screeched falling backward, onto the plain white bed once he heard the lock on the steel door click. “Fuck you and all your fucking medicine!!”

He didn’t know when it started, but before long Ghoul felt himself start to sob. Whether it was from the throbbing pain of being beaten by Dracs trying to contain him or that he’d reached his breaking point, he couldn’t stop the silver tears from free-falling from his eyes. He felt like he was falling apart, he needed somebody,  _ anybody _ to support him right now. He already missed Kobra and Jet like crazy, he needed someone to hold him and tell him that he’d be okay. That they were going to get Poison back no matter what. That no matter how bad it felt, this wasn’t the end. In fact, they were nowhere near the end. And they were going to fight, get Poison out of BLI’s filthy clutch and they’d be back in his arms in no time.

“Poi-Poison…” Ghoul whispered through his quiet sobs. “Poison, please, please wait for me. Don’t let them break you, love. You can’t break. I can’t let that happen to you.” Before long his words started to slur together from the tears and Ghoul wrapped his arms around himself and sat up. He leaned his back against the wall the bed was sitting against and he took in a sharp breath, wiping his eyes fiercely.

“They won’t break me either,” he murmured to himself. He looked up at the room, looking for some sort of hidden camera to shout at. “You hear that? You fuckers won’t break me!” he screamed, pointing his middle finger at each corner of the room. “You won’t! I’m fucking strong!”

Ghoul rubbed his eyes roughly before laying back down and staring emotionlessly at the ceiling. He was going to get through this. He was going to prove to these BLI fuckers that he was stronger than they believed. So he was going to start that by not getting any sleep.

* * *

And he hadn’t even gotten a minute of sleep when he heard the door of the white room open, showing two Dracs there to take ahold of Ghoul and bring him  _ somewhere _ . He stood up, crossing his arms as they neared him. It was gonna take more than one sleepless night to destroy Ghoul, he lived in the desert for the Witch’s sake. He’s probably gone weeks without sleeping, maybe with little mini naps in between, but he had gotten pretty great at going up to at least three nights where he wouldn’t even catch a wink.

There was a Drac on either side of Ghoul as they led him into a large room. He was put in a line and given a tray. Breakfast. And so Ghoul’s protest continued. He looked and saw that Dracs lined the exits of the room, standing at any place somebody could slip away. Fuck, he couldn’t get out of this room it seemed. Ghoul looked around as some food was ladeled onto his tray, looking for any sight of his friends. Where were they? They had to be here somewhere, right? Ghoul’s eyes darted across the room but he couldn’t even catch a glance of either of them. He went to sit down at an empty table in the farthest corner of the room, leaning against a wall. He wasn’t planning on eating either, there was no way he was bending to the will of any of these people trying to control him.

Before long, Ghoul had blanked out completely, just mindlessly gazing in front of him when he felt somebody put down a tray next to him and he was completely snapped out of his trance. It was Kobra, there and well. Jet had set down his tray across from the two and suddenly a huge smile spread across his face.

“Thank the Witch, I didn’t think I’d find you two!!” Ghoul nearly shouted, wrapping his arms around Kobra. “I’m going insane, I swear.”

“Shhh,” Kobra pulled away and pressed a finger to his lips. “They’re listening--We need to be quiet as possible, who knows what they’ll do to us if they overhear anything.”

Ghoul nodded and Jet offered Ghoul a soft grin before saying, “Ghoul, you’re the biggest idiot I know.”

“Hey, I didn’t know!!”  
“Not about this. Why the fuck did you fight the Dracs yesterday? You absolute motherfucker, we thought they put you in some special solitary confinement and we wouldn’t be able to get to you.”

Ghoul chuckled. “I’m okay, man. You know I am. I’m stronger than you two make me out to be.”

“Yeah, but we don’t know what BLI does to people like you who can’t behave,” Kobra said, punching Ghoul’s arm softly. “I know you’re a hardass motherfucker, but we need to stick together as much as possible, especially since it’s kinda fuckin’ hard right now.”

Ghoul sighed, crossing his arms. “Alright, alright,” he murmured. ‘You guys aren’t gonna eat that, are you? I know we’re hungry but… there’s gotta be something in there.”

Jet leaned back and crossed his arms. “Fuck, you’re probably right. If not the regular medicine, there’s definitely something.”

“What do you guys think the therapy is gonna be like?” Kobra murmured, wrapping his arms around himself. “Poison and I… we managed to slip out after being told we’d go through therapy. ‘Cause we’ve heard some horror stories.”

Ghoul suddenly stiffened up and glanced from his friends to the corners of the room, wondering if there were any cameras listening to them. “What did you guys hear about it?”

“Well, sometimes you get lucky and you get one of the merciful ones,” Kobra said quietly, looking down at the tray in front of him. “But most of them aren’t. And if you piss off the Director, you’re sure to get a bad one.”  _ Fuck _ , Ghoul thought. Well, he was ready to get the worst therapist possible after that interaction he had with her earlier.

“What are the bad ones like?” Jet said quietly, his voice airy and anxious.

Kobra’s eyes were wide as he spoke and Ghoul could’ve sworn he was even shaking slightly. “The bad ones…. They’re really bad. A lot of them use torture methods to enforce their messages. To discourage revolting citizens from doing it again. So they’ll stay on the pills because it makes them feel happier, it keeps the memories at bay. People would rather drug themselves until they can’t even think rather than face their emotions.

“I heard… I heard the therapists would use electroshock therapy sometimes, beat people, starve them, there have been people who died in their care,” Kobra sucked in a sharp breath. “And I'm scared. I’m terrified, I don’t wanna go through that. I don’t wanna be tortured so bad I’d rather forget who I am than feel.”

The boys were all quiet for a minute, none of them knew what to say or even think. They didn’t know whether they should worry aloud or keep it to themselves, risk being overheard by a camera or reported by someone else, or outwardly discuss it.

“Even if you are tortured… you can get through this, Kobes,” Jet murmured, reaching across the table to take his friends hand. “I know you, you can do this.”

Kobra nodded shakily and Ghoul clapped his shoulder, grinning. They were quiet for the rest of the meal until they were forced apart again by Dracs, ready to submit themselves to plenty of torture and fear unril they figured out how to fix all this.

###  **Korse**

Lately, there had been rumours circulating around Battery City. The Killjoys had broken into the town. And not just any Killjoys, but Poison’s specifically. Now, Korse didn’t know where they were or what they were doing here but he needed to keep the trio away from his pretty little toy as long as possible. He wasn’t about to lose the thing he worked so hard to get to a gang of deadbeat artists. 

So he got up from a chair in his apartment, stretching as he armed himself with a gun, ready to go visit his little toy again, make sure they never even considered disobeying him. He was Poison’s master and he planned on keeping it that way as long as he possibly could. The strength of the pills they were taking paired with the quantity caused them to be completely unable to think for themself anymore. They were nothing but a doll. Korse’s pretty little doll that he got to play with whenever he pleased. And it was wonderful.

Once he had arrived into the Industry, he checked in before being stopped by the Director before he could make it to Poison’s room. “You hear the slut’s little friends made their way to the city?” she said, the look on her face something reminiscent of anger. “They’re here for them. They’re gonna break in and take your little whore back.”

Korse rolled his eyes. “How’d we even hear about this? How do we know they’re really here?”

“They checked into a hotel in the city not long ago,” she continued crossing her arms. “They were reports. Idiots really thought getting a new outfit and changing their hair would make people forget the Wanted posters. Kids are just getting dumber and dumber.”

Korse let out a chuckle. “I’m careful, I’ll move my little slut to my room,” he assured her. “Even if they do get in, they’ll have a far harder time getting in there.”

“Smart.” She clicked her tongue and crossed her arms. “Move them today. We won’t notify anyone so news doesn’t get out.” That was the end of the conversation as the Director walked away, her black heels clicking as she walked. Korse knew he had to move Poison now if he wanted to keep them here. So he walked to Poison’s room, opening it slowly and greeting the Killjoy.

“Hello, doll,” he purred, seeing Poison staring blankly at the wall as they laid against the headboard. They glanced up and let out a soft noise, opening their legs as they always did on instinct, their belief of what Korse wanted to do. But they were wrong right now. “No, I’m taking you somewhere else today. You get to come live with me.”

Poison looked up, their dead eyes that were shining with tears having some sort of glisten to them now. They knew it was an honor to be allowed to live with their master, to perhaps share a bed with him. But they didn’t yet speak until Korse kneeled down to them, a cruel smile on his face. “Now, what are you, my love?”

“Your little slut,” they practically whispered in response. 

“And I…”

“You love me,” they went on and Korse could see that in their eyes, they believed it. “And I love you.”

Korse pressed a kiss to their lips before he stepped back. “You’ve still been dreaming about that pretty black haired boy you mentioned?” Not long ago, Poison had confessed to Korse that many nights he dreamed about a short, pretty boy with black hair. This boy would love them and treat them well. It was Fun Ghoul, despite all the medicine, Poison had been dreaming of Fun Ghoul. Korse couldn’t have this of course, so he raised their dose once again, trying to block thoughts of this boy from their mind. They just nodded slowly before their shaky voice responded.

“So-sometimes. But he-- he isn’t nice to me anymore.”

Korse grinned as he crossed his arms. He tapped Poison’s nose softly and they flinched much to his amusement as he continued, “How so?” he practically growled at the Killjoy.

“He yells at me.” Korse could almost say he felt bad for them. How broken they sounded over this. But at least if Fun Ghoul ever found them, they’d surely be scared out of their wits “He tells me I do--I don’t deserve anything. I’m scared. I don’t want him to hurt me.”

Korse stroked their hair softly and they leaned into his touch as he did so. “Oh, my poor, sweet kitten. You know I’d never let that motherfucker hurt you.”

Poison looked up at him with those big golden eyes and a small smile seemed to surface. “I love you,” they whispered and Korse’s grin only grew. That was the first time they initiated it. Progress.

“You know I love you too, my love,” Korse murmured. “Now let’s go to my room. You’ll be safe there, kitten.”

###  **Jet**

Kobra had most definitely been right about the therapists. They were awful. Therapy in Better Living Industry was quite literally the definition of hell. He had only underwent one session so far and being back in the plain empty room actually seemed incredible compared to the therapy session. It started regularly, talking and asking questions. He had asked why Jet had gone off the pills. What was he feeling since he had gone off them? Jet was silent, he didn’t want to give too much away. Anything that could possibly give his identity away was off the table. Of course, that had made the seemingly nice lady posing as his therapist very angry. He had thought he got lucky for quite some time. That was until he decided not to talk.

Before he knew it, she had started the injections. Something painful was getting forced into his bloodstream and by the end of the session, he could barely stand on his own. She had to call Dracs to drag him back to his room. Jet really didn’t see himself to be particularly strong-willed until right now. Somehow he had managed to sit through the injections and not give up anything. But if this is what he was going through, he could only imagine what they were doing to poor Ghoul who had dared to fight back.

In his room, he let out a deep, tired sigh as he leaned against the wall. He really didn’t wanna undergo more. He didn’t want to be under the power of BLI any longer. But the trio needed a plan, a plan to find and get Poison out if they were leaving here anytime soon. 

* * *

Ghoul hadn’t come to breakfast the next morning. Kobra and Jet sat still, anxiously as they looked at each other with vacant expressions, both panicking on the inside. What had happened to him?? What had the therapists possibly done to him that he couldn’t come to breakfast.

“Look, I’m scared as shit but we need a plan,” Kobra murmured. “For when we find him. So we can get to Poison and get the hell out of here.”]

Jet nodded. “Well, how are we gonna go about that? First we need the Dracs to get off our asses and we don’t even know where Poison is.” 

Kobra sucked in a breath and nodded. “You’re right, you’re right.” He bit his lip. “How’re we gonna find them? We can’t let Korse see us. He knows what we look like.”

“Well, we don’t know where Ghoul is so sending him back to the Director is out of the question,” Jet pondered. “Unless he’s already there, that is. But we can’t tell him to do anything. One of us has to go. And try to get the information out of her.”

Nodding slowly, Kobra crossed his arms. “I think you’re right. That’d probably be the best thing we could do. The only way we could possibly find them.”

Both of the boys were breathing shakily as they sat quietly. Who was going to do this? They were going to have to  _ deliberately _ get themselves into the Director’s office and somehow squeeze out some of what was likely highly confidential information. This was absolutely terrifying and neither of them knew how they were going to do it.

“I’ll go,” Kobra rasped. “I’ll do it tonight. Hopefully Ghoul’s back soon and you can explain it all to him. I’ll… I’ll try and find where Poison is.”

Jet sucked in a breath. He wanted to say no, Kobra couldn’t, he couldn’t do that to himself. He couldn’t take that risk. But this was Kobra’s sibling, the person he cared about more than anything. The person who’s torn the desert to shreds multiple times to find him, with him doing the same for them. He knew there was nothing he could do to talk him out of it. “Alright,” he said quietly, nodding. Destroya, he hoped Ghoul would be back soon. What would he do without either of his friends, while living with the fear of what may be happening to Poison? He reached across the table to take Kobra’s hand. “Be careful, please. I can’t lose all three of you.”

Nodding, Kobra squeezed his friend's hand. “Yeah. I will. But what we need now is a plan. How am I even gonna go about this?”

Sighing to himself, still clutching onto Kobra’s hand, Jet frowned. “Fuck. Uhm, nothing too bad. We don’t wanna get you thrown in solitary or killed or some shit. Wait wait, wait, you should like… punch me. If they think we’re getting in a fight, they’ll definitely break up the fight and take you to her. For her to like… fucking taunt you or something.”

Kobra moved his hand, squinting. “You want me to punch you? Jet, I don’t wanna punch you.”  
“Well, I don’t wanna be here in the first place, Kobes.” Jet’s voice was something desperate now. This was the only thing they could do at this point. “Look, if you won’t do it, I’ll punch you and it’ll be me visiting the director.”

“Fuck, I  _ need _ to do this,” Kobra murmured quietly to himself. He raised his voice ever so slightly to look at his friend. “Fine. Fine, I’ll fucking punch you.”

“Don’t worry about it man, I’ve been through worse injuries than a little slap in the jaw from a scrawny ass fucker like you,” teased Jet, lightly hitting his arm, an attempt at giving him a last little solace before he threw himself into the hands of the director.

Kobra grinned, nodding quickly. “Okay. Now?” Jet nodded, noticing that some of the Dracs were beginning to collect some of the citizens. Kobra quickly glanced from side to side, looking at the Draculoid coming towards him and at Jet before shouting, “Fucker!” and punching Jet hard, square in the jaw. That caught the attention of everyone in the room, Jet looking up from where he collapsed and seeing multiple Dracs go to contain him. Kobra’s face was anxious as he looked at Jet, still forcing himself to fight at the Dracs beside him, looking as if he was trying to get to Jet. A few Dracs came at Jet, helping him stand and tearing him away from Kobra. 

It was starting.

The Dracs that had taken ahold of Jet had taken him to the medic to check his injury. It was just a little punch in the jaw and Kobra wasn’t too strong, so the injury couldn’t be that bad. Jet was sitting down on a table, looking down at his feet as he waited for somebody to come and check his wounds. That was when he heard a gruff voice say, “You’re more trouble than you’re worth, young man,” and a sharp “Fuck you!” in response in a voice he recognized. His head shot up and he saw the familiar flash of black hair. It was Ghoul. He had found him.

“Hey, I know you!” Ghoul noticed him first, a big smile on his face as he looked at his friend. The medic glared at Ghoul as if asking him to shut up as he moved towards Jet. “Did they get you too?”

“Quiet, boy,” the man grunted as he looked closely at Jet’s jaw. 

Jet shook his head softly. “No, K--” he stopped himself, not wanting to reveal Kobra’s name. Then he went on, censoring himself this time. “Our friend punched me” He looked at the man and back at Ghoul. Who was to say the medic wouldn’t report their plan to the Director before Kobra got to her. He could always fill Ghoul in later, he had to fabricate a story for now. “I pissed him off.”

Ghoul’s eyes lit up with amusement as a grin filled his face. “Did he really? Damn, I didn’t think he was the type.” Jet grinned and smiled.

“Stay fuckin’ still, boy,” the medic growled at Jet, cold fingers gripping his arm tightly.

“Sorry,” Jet murmured, looking down then back up to Ghoul teasingly. There was some sort of strong relief in his chest, to know he had found Ghoul despite his worry for Poison and Kobra. He knew where he was now and it was wonderful. Before long the medic had finished on Jet and pulled back.

“I’m calling Draculoids to collect you two now, just sit tight.”

Jet nodded but once Kobra had left, he practically leapt across the room to sit next to Ghoul. He started by just pressing his hand against Ghoul’s shoulder as if to check if he was even real. He had a splint on his nose and seemed pale and blotchy as Jet spoke. “Are you okay? Why’re you here, Kobra and I were so fucking worried.”

“My therapist’s a fucking  _ bastard _ , man,” Ghoul said, leaning back with a chuckle. “She broke my nose and injected me with some shit. It was rough.”

“She really fucking did that to you? Mine just did the injections.”

“Damn, you got lucky. I’m here ‘cause of the injections.”

“ _ Shit _ , man.”

“Yeah, but what’d you do to piss the Kid off so much he punched you? He’s usually so wholesome.” There was a smile on Ghoul’s face, he had obviously found it absolutely hysterical that Kobra punched Jet.

“That’s actually not what happened,” Jet said with a chuckle and he could’ve sworn Ghoul looked disappointed. “I couldn’t tell you while the medic was here, he’d report us.”

“Well then what fucking happened?”

“We needed Kobra to get in with the Director.”

“What?” Ghoul’s face had suddenly morphed into utter shock and worry. “Are you guys fucking  _ insane _ ? ‘Cause that woman is!! What if she does something to him?”

“We need to find Poison’s location,” said Jet, his voice quieting. “She probably knows where he is. We needed something that’d get him near her so he could either overhear something or squeeze it out of her. But we didn’t want him shoved in solitary or something worse. So I said he should punch me and they'll grab him to break the fight.”

Ghoul sighed. “I guess that’s smart. Hopefully it works, if we don’t get a location out of this, I’m not gonna be the only person who’s pissed about this.”

Jet nodded. “I know, I know. Hopefully it works. It’s really our only hope.” Ghoul just closed his eyes and leaned back. Jet took his hand and squeezed it softly. “It’ll be okay. We’ll get them back. I know you love them and I know you miss them like crazy. It’ll be okay, Ghoul. They’ll be okay. I promise.”

That was when the two were ripped apart by the Dracs there to bring them back to return to their rooms. Jet stiffened as he stole one last worried glance at Ghoul before he was taken back to his room, now wondering what may become of not just one anymore, but now all three of his friends.


	6. VI

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> woah, so sorry about how long it took to get this chapter out.... turns out i completely neglected it for like a week then got hella backtracked. i honestly don't think t h i s is worth your guys's wait but i hope you all enjoy it regardless:'))

###  **Kobra**

The Director was a huge bitch, if you asked Kobra. She kinda stared at him cross-armed for a solid hour while he sat in a room. He honestly didn’t even know what the fuck was going on, he was just being fucking  _ stared at _ by the Director and a few Dracs around her, ‘cause obviously a noodle armed little bastard was the most dangerous person in the building and was going to attack her. But finally,  _ fucking finally _ , the fucker opened her mouth to say something.

“So,” she started, entering the room Kobra was sitting in and leaning against the wall. “I heard you like to cause trouble in the cafeteria. What’s up with that?”

Kobra just shrugged. He didn’t wanna speak, he had never met this woman before but wanted posters were a big thing and he knew that Korse, the bastard was practically her number one. If anyone other than Korse was gonna recognize his voice, it was her. So he looked at his feet, staying silent. She made a subtle tsk sound as she tapped a heel loudly on the floor of the room. “Oh, you’re a quiet one too. Didn’t seem like you were that quiet in the cafeteria.” Kobra just grunted and scooted himself back. He didn’t want her to even be in his line of sight as he stared at his feet with crossed arms. “You can say something, dear,” she said, her voice practically a chuckle. “I don’t bite. I’m not the one you should be scared of, I care about you.”

_ Yeah, sure, _ Kobra thought, almost letting the words slip from his lips. Damn, that would’ve earned a nice slap if it made it out. But now a real question was plaguing him, a real important one.  _ How was he going to milk Poison’s location out of this bitch? _ He needed to figure that out or else all this would end up being for nothing. And it’d be even fucking harder to get them back. The poor guy had been gone long enough, the Witch only knew what was happening to them right now. Kobra ended up so lost in thought that they barely even heard the Director scoff, the annoyance in her tone clear and obvious. She was finally getting fed up with the Kobra Kid.

“Fine, don’t talk,” she said, practically throwing her hands in the air. “We’ll just fucking keep you here until you do. Hope you’re comfy, ‘cause until you decide to open you’re fucking mouth you’ll be right fucking there.”

Now Kobra was feeling smug, she wasn’t going to just let him go. Yeah, it sucked he was kinda forcing Jet, who was already worried enough about Ghoul and Poison to worry about him like crazy. But anything to possibly get Poison back quicker, he missed them so much. He needed them back. 

Kobra sat still and silent, in the same room, not having moved a muscle since the last time the Director spoke. She had stayed in the room, chatting silently with another person, whom Kobra didn’t recognize. ‘In case he decides to fucking cooperate,’ Kobra heard her explain. So now he was listening closely to the conversation. He could hear most of it, in the dead silence of the room and she seemed to not even know he was, in fact the Kobra Kid. So if Poison’s name was dropped, he’d more than likely get a location.

“I’m sick and tired of these bitchy citizens,” the Director said, sighing heavily. “If you ask me, we should just start killing them. It’s much easier and it keeps rats out, you hear me?”

The man next to her nodded knowingly, crossing his arms. “You’re right, you’re right. “But hey, if you killed ‘em, we probably wouldn’t have Red. They’d be dead.”

“True.” At that, Kobra’s head shot up. Red.  _ Red. _ Was that possibly Poison? Poison had red hair… It was a reach, but it was a possibility. Who else could Red be referring to? And who else that ‘would be dead’ who was  _ also called Red.  _ It was of course, quite possible Kobra was fixating too much on the ‘Red’ thing, but anything to get Poison back.

“You moved ‘em?” the man muttered to the Director, silencing his voice as if to hide it from Kobra. They could still hear though, there wasn’t anything in the room to drown out the sound. 

She nodded. “The Four made it to the city. We haven’t had anymore reports since the hotel but we didn’t want them finding them.”

“Where’d you put them?”

She sighed, leaning against the wall behind where she was sitting. “I told him we shouldn’t be open about it. In case there are any rats, we don’t want the location getting out this time.”

_ Fuck, _ she didn’t wanna talk about it. Kobra needed this location, he needed to get to Poison. He saw her look behind at Kobra, ready to change the subject. “Alright, you ready to talk now?” she said, getting up to walk back up to Kobra. Kobra quickly threw his head down. Crossing his legs and grunting softly.

“You know all you need to do to get out of here is say some words. Just talk,” she said. “Now, why’d you hit that guy?”

Why was she so fucking hung up on him hitting Jet? What did it have anything to do with anything? And why was it pissing her off so much? Unless it had something to do with the pills… They regulated anger, that was true, in fact they regulated all emotions, even happiness. It probably had something to do with how much they were going to give him during the reconditioning process, maybe even what type of medicine he’d be getting. In fact that was the only thing it could be that made sense at all.

But it was true Kobra wanted to get out of here and go back with Jet, see if Ghoul was okay. If Ghoul was back with them. He hadn’t even been there a day and he missed his friends. But he couldn’t go back empty handed, without their sibling’s location. So Kobra just shrugged and made another noise. Maybe he wasn’t speaking, but he was making noises. That was okay, wasn’t it?

She groaned loudly, looking as if she was ready to punch Kobra and yank her hair out. “It’s not hard. You know, I could do a lot worse to you. I think it’s in your best interest to fucking listen to me.”

Kobra sighed. He needed to say something, didn’t he? If he wanted to leave the Director with his sanity, it seemed like he had too. “He was pissing me off,” Kobra murmured to himself, loudly enough for her to hear but not loud enough to make his voice at all recognizable. 

“See? That was easy,” the Director said. “We’re keeping you here a little longer. You can get out tomorrow.”

Kobra sighed watching her walk away, back down to the man, taking him to the other room. “I’ll get Korse to check on ‘em later. He can talk to you about it in a bit. I don’t wanna say it out loud.”

_ FUCK _ , Kobra’s mind practically exploded. He was so close.  _ So fucking close. _ If she had just fucking  _ spoke _ a little more, he’d have Poison’s location. That was all he needed. But she had taken the man out of the room, without revealing the location of ‘Red.’ Who Kobra was fairly certain was Poison. How was he gonna explain to Jet that their plan wasn’t gonna work? That it’d be quite some time until they got poor Poison back. Poor Poison who was probably being seriously tortured and miserable and sad and lonely.

He leaned back, laying back on the bed as he felt tears start to well up in their eyes. Thinking about what was happening to his older sibling right now was physically painful. He missed them, he loved them, they’ve done so much through their whole lives. They saved his life. He needed to do the same for them, what kind of brother would he be if he didn’t?

But there seemed to be nothing he could do about this now. It was over.

###  **Red**

Time had seemed to stop in its tracks. They didn’t know who they were anymore, they had no memories before only around a week or so ago. Red. That’s what Korse had called them. They were Red. They were Korse’s love, his doll, his toy. That was their purpose. They were simply a product of Better Living Industries.

But part of Red wondered who were they? They must’ve had a past, a life before having been with Korse. They had too, didn’t they? Everybody in Battery City had a full life, why didn’t Red? So as they laid on Korse’s bed waiting for their master, the thought. They closed their eyes. Cleared their mind. And thought. Life before Korse. Life before the Director. Life before Better Living Industries. Before Battery City. They saw three people. They couldn’t make out their features, they were merely shadows. But Red wanted to be with them. They wanted to go and talk to them. In their mind, they reached forward… But that was when they were thrown from their fantasy, when Korse entered the room again and kissed their forehead.

“Who am I?” whispered Red as Korse caressed their cheek softly. They were sore and in a lot of pain, soft spasms of pain spirling through their body as Korse touched them. 

“What do you mean, my doll?” Korse murmured, fingers tickling their chin. “You’re Red.”

They shook their head, pulling back away from him. “No. Who am I? Who was I before you saved me? Before you and the Director brought me here.” This time, they flinched when Korse hooked their waist, him having touched a particularly sore area. The other day, they had spoken to one of the prisoners who walked by the bedroom while Korse was away… when he returned he spared no mercy for Poison. They’d be in pain for days with their punishment from the day before.

“Why would you want to know that?” Korse stood up, the cheerful facade fading away quickly and Red could tell they struck a nerve. They made a big mistake. Korse may not have been the most loving person in general, but pissing him off was always a bad idea…

But Red just shrugged. They broke eye contact with Korse and practically shrunk in their seat. “I just wanna know, I guess… everyone else I’ve spoken too has a story.”

Korse’s eyebrows raised and his arms crossed. “Who else have you spoken too, dearest?” he questioned, his voice low and angry. Well, Red just kept making mistakes today, now didn’t they? They could only hope he happened to be in a good mood today and would spare them the usual beating.

“N-no one re-really,” Red’s voice was quieting with every word they said. They had already said far too much and honestly? They didn’t know how much more their thin, frail body could take, whether it was the beatings or even the sex.

“Then why are you so intrigued by these ‘stories’ you speak of? Whose story was so amusing that you need to know your own?” Red could practically feel the warm anger radiating from Korse. His voice was sour and Red had started to shake. They didn’t know what he was planning but it’d be nothing good, that was for sure.

“I-I just want to know where I came from.” Red’s voice was just a whisper now. They looked up finally, gazing into Korse’s cold, dead eyes, their golden ones filled with tears. “I’ve had dreams. Or when I--when I focus really hard. I see shadows! Three shadows! And I can only assume they’re  _ something _ to me if I keep seeing them. Or at least… they used to be.”

“Used to be, that’s just right, doll,” Korse said, his soothing purr returning. “They don’t concern you anymore. You don’t need to know anything about them.”

Red’s heart slowed, hearing his voice calm. But that didn’t kill the curiosity, so they leaned forward again, suddenly more bold. “If they don’t concern me anymore than it shouldn’t hurt to let me know just a little bit? Please?”

Korse closed his eyes and sucked in a sharp breath. “Red. Don’t make me repeat myself.” Ah, there it was. The sharpness that had disappeared for just a moment. And they thought that maybe they’d for once get what they craved. How foolish could they be?

“I understand,” they whispered. “I’m sorry for asking. I’ll leave you alone about it.”

Korse made a tsk’ing sound with his mouth, clicking his tongue as he took Red’s chin in his hand. “Actually… you’ve been good today. Most of today at least. Maybe… Maybe I’ll let you in on a little bit from your past.”

Suddenly Red’s eyes had lit up. How had it worked? They went in with no plan to ask somebody shockingly notorious for his anger about a topic he had beaten them for on more occasions than one! And were they about to leave the conversation without a beating? “Thank you, sir,” Red smiled, making sure their voice sounded as grateful as they could possibly sound.

“You were right about the Director and I saving you,” Korse said, his voice quiet as he sat down next to Red. “You were born and raised in the desert, that disgusting place. You lived within a crew of those bloody, vile killjoys. I don’t know how you lasted long as you did with them…”

“What do you mean?” Their voice was anxious and shaky… and they almost regretted asking. What had the killjoys done to them while they had lived in the desert? What had Korse managed to save them from?

A dirty laugh managed to snake from Korse’s lips. “Oh, dearest… the things that happened to you there. It was terrible. We got you away from them in just the manner of time.”

“But what did they  _ do _ ?” Red didn’t fully understand what they were pushing for or why they were even pushing it. They were scared to hear what Korse had to say, they almost wanted to yell at him to stop. But that’d deem an even greater punishment than simply asking may have earned. Fuck, this was a bad idea. They felt the hyperventilating begin as they leaned into his arm, feeling Korse stroke his side softly and they closed their eyes as they attempted to slow their breathing and calm themself down.

“Awful things, love,” Korse whispered, soothingly as he rubbed them softly, managing to calm them just enough that they could hear his words straight. “You were tortured. We found you malnourished with broken bones, bleeding out quickly. You were just  _ hours _ from death when we got you. You’re lucky we found you when you did or you wouldn’t be here today. Now, you’re still malnourished but that damn… that damn raven-haired boy will never lay a finger on you again. I’ll make sure of it, you know I will.”

Red nodded slowly. “Thank you, Korse…” Despite their fear for what Korse may do soon, they couldn’t help but feel lucky, so lucky that they had been saved from all of the bullshit in the desert. They weren’t being tortured anymore, they were with a man who genuinely loved them… they’d never had that before and they’d never have that again if they left Korse. They loved him and they needed him. He was safe.

“Alright, but we can’t forget that you were still naughty… you still disobeyed,” Korse said, nudging Red off his shoulder before he stood up. “Maybe I love you, but I can’t let bad children go unpunished. What kind of world would we be living in if you still disobeyed on your medication? Is stronger dosage what you need, perhaps?”

Nodding rapidly, Red started stepping back and shaking all over again. “Yes. Yes, please, a higher dosage, that’s all I need. You don’t need to punish me. I promise I won’t act up again. Please please just raise the dosage. Please.”

“Well, as I said my dear,” Korse’s voice was soft, though the words he was saying were definitely quite the opposite of that. “What kind of world would we be living in if bad children went unpunished? Anarchy, that’s what. And Battery City can’t have any of that, now can we?”

###  **Ghoul**

Lately, Ghoul had been miserable. In fact, just a little bit more miserable than normal. They missed their lover like crazy, he’d actually been dreaming about them almost every night. Waking up alone, nobody to hold him… it was painful. He was looking at the ceiling in his empty white room and just sobbing. Crying until he couldn’t feel anymore.

“Poi-Pois…” he whispered to himself as he cried, just wanting his partner back. He wanted to hug them, to kiss them, to hold them… “I love you,” he sobbed, his voice louder. “I fucking love you. I miss you.” He was shaking, crying, he just wanted to be with Poison again. Earlier, he had found out the most terrible news he’d had in a while… Well, since Poison had been ripped away from him. Kobra had failed to get their location. He had been so close, but in the end… it hadn’t worked. There seemed to be no chance he’d ever see his partner again, and maybe he needed just a little optimism right now, but it’s hard to be optimistic when the only image in your mind is the cold, dying eyes of the person you love.

Before long, Ghoul was being taken to his torture that BLI liked to call ‘therapy.’ He had a Draculoid on either arm, taking him to the motherfucker that injected the acid into his arm and beat him up, tied to a chair and defenseless. 

“You’re still alive, hm,” he said, crossing his arms and leaning against his own chair. “Go ahead, sit. We have to begin our session.” Ghoul went and sat down across from him, his eyes still bloodshot and wet from tears. “Crying? Did I finally break you.”

Ghoul shook his head rapidly and wiped his eyes. He tried his hardest to keep sobs from slipping through his lips. It wasn’t because of his taunting, in fact Ghoul was fairly strong-willed and was barely phased by the taunts. He was just still thinking about poor Poison and how scared he was for them. 

“Well, what’s wrong then, little mouse?” the therapist crooned, leaning forward, almost reaching for Ghoul. That was the nickname he had given them. ‘Little Mouse.’ It disgusted him. Ghoul believed it to be demeaning… dehumanizing. If it had been a name given to him by Poison, then he’d find it absolutely adorable but when it came from this motherfucker, he spent every second wanting to die.

Ghoul didn’t know what to say or do, he didn’t want to speak, he didn’t want to let his so-called ‘therapist’ know too much. He had used every word Ghoul had spoken against him, they could definitely use Poison against him. But the therapist still raised an eyebrow and smiled creepily at Ghoul.

“You know you’re supposed to tell your therapist everything, my little mouse.” Ghoul so badly wanted to punch him in his stupid face. His tone was just so frustrating and condescending. Ghoul wanted nothing more than to scream. And despite being a fairly strong-willed person, he couldn’t resist the temptation of a pissy comment.

“Fuck off, I’ve had therapists before and they’ve never fucked me over like  _ this _ before.” The therapist was practically seeing red now as, of course the first thing he had ever managed to squeeze from Ghoul was an insult.

“Now you talk?”

“Well, you seemed to want it so bad,” Ghoul shot a snide grin at the man. Well, now it looked like he was about to get slapped but honestly? Frank didn't care. It felt pretty nice to piss somebody off again.

The therapist had at this point practically thrown himself across the table, Ghoul’s chair falling backwards as he held his hands at his neck.  _ Wow, feisty _ , Ghoul thought, a soft grin trailing onto his face. “Ah, a kinky one, aren’t you?”

“I could choke you out right here, you know,” the man growled, his spit spraying onto Ghoul’s face, his response just a grin and a wink.

“Oh,  _ please _ , daddy,” Ghoul rank practically forced himself to moan. “I like it rough.” Well, no he didn’t. He didn’t exactly ‘like it rough’ but anything to see how crazy it made the man’s face.

The man at this point had thrown himself off of Ghoul with an absolutely disgusted look on his face. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

Ghoul just shrugged. “Well, you got me to talk. Happy now? This was your goal wasn’t it? Congrats, man! You did it? What do you want, a cookie?”

Ghoul had to try so hard to contain his laughter as he heard the therapist literally  _ growling _ at him right now. Somebody need to get him to therapy!! This shit was something he’d never seen before and once they were back in the desert, he never wanted to see again. After all this bullshit was over, Ghoul was really never letting Poison out of his sight. Ever again. He wasn’t letting anything happen to them, he loved them too much.

“Look, you stubborn motherfucker,” the therapist began, cracking his knuckles with his back turned to Ghoul. “You’ve spoken. Good for you! He speaks! But you know what fucking speaking does for a little fucker like you. The sessions are  _ recorded _ , little fucking mouse. You know what we can do now that we’ve got your voice? You know we can identify you now? Well, we’d have no reason to need to identify you if you weren’t such a problematic little bitch, but you are and you brought this on  _ yourself _ . And we’ve got samples of everyone! Desert rats and the citizens! No matter who we are, we. Have. You. You’re fucked, boy! You’re  _ fucked!” _

Ghoul managed to keep the panic out of his eyes, keeping his cocky demeanor. But on the inside, he was ready to cry all over again. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck… he was right, they couild identidy his voice. They’d know he was Fun Ghoul, they’d know Kobra and Jet were here… they’d all get killed. A recent discovery by D and Pony was them noticing that Exterminators had tapes on them at all times. They wanted to collect the voices of as many killjoys as they possibly could. This way, if they captured one or something like the Four were doing, they could far more easily identify them. So they  _ definitely _ had plenty of samples of Ghoul’s voice from the, what was probably  _ hundreds _ of run-ins with Korse, the motherfucker that had kidnapped his love.

“Nothing to say now, how ‘bout it?” taunted the therapist. “You’re so fucking smart until we’ve got you right on our leash.” He chuckled and crossed his arms as Ghoul scooted himself back slowly, sitting against the wall. “You’re just like Red when we first got them. They… they had a different name then, I think… I don’t remember it now.”

“R-Red?” Ghoul said, partially to himself and partially to the man. 

“Korse’s little sextoy,” he laughed. “They’re so fucking  _ into _ that sexy little hoe… it’s great, I’d be too!! Wish that bitch shared though, he full on moved ‘em to his  _ apartment _ so none of us can touch them. Paranoid fucker…”

“Wh-what?” That  _ idiot,  _ now it was a smile Ghoul was trying to keep from his face. The possibility of this “Red’ being Poison was far too high to ignore… and this man had just  _ told Ghoul where they were. _ Perfect, fucking perfect!

“Fuck…” the man whispered. He glanced at the corner of the room, what Ghoul assumed was the camera. “I’m not supposed t-- Fuck, that was sensitive information… I’m dead.”

Ghoul was about to scream from happiness. That was  _ Poison’s location.  _ He did it. All today’s shit was worth it. The tears from finding out Kobra’s plan hadn’t worked… the horrible, horrible feeling that he may never see Poison again. Now he had hope. They had a chance.  _ Poison  _ had a chance. He’d get them out no matter what.


	7. VI.5

hello, harlem here!! this isn't a real update but more of an apology for how much i've been neglecting this story... my depression has hit lately and i've had a hard time doing much anything some days, let alone work on the story. and other days i just can't seem to find the motivation to work on it. i don't want to go on a definite hiatus but please just know updates will be very very VERY slow and i'm really sorry. thank you so much for understanding and i'm so sorry about this, i really wish i didn't have to do this

much love,

harlem


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